In The End, It Doesn't Even Matter
by DarknessLightWolf
Summary: P3P/P3: Semi-sequel to Fused Dimensions. Red eyes are her identity. She hides her identity, like she always have. But with meeting a "person", she's forced to reveal her identity. "A...venge... me... Per...so...na..."
1. Chapter 1 Meeting

**DLWolf: Hey guys! My name is DarknessLightWolf. Some of you might know me from the semi-prequel of this story called ****Fused Dimensions****, this story is not a direct sequel, but some elements from this story that was found in the semi-prequel. **

**DLWolf: Long story short, this story is a first-person story, and I wanted to experiment on battle scenes for a while, so this story is M-Rated, sorry for those who don't like M-Rated stories.**

**DLWolf: Disclaimers: I do not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it.**

**DLWolf: I'll tell you more in the next chapter. But remember to R&R this story and no insults please!**

I woke up. Yes I did, but it wasn't the kind of epic waking up when you see yourself becoming a demon or something like that. No, I woke up just in time to see a blue butterfly fly by me. And it was speaking.

_Time never waits._

_It delivers all equally to the same end._

_You, who wish to safeguard the future,_

_However limited it may be…_

_You will be given one year;_

_Go forth without falter,_

_With your heart as your guide…_

…Weird. But I have seen weirder.

Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered." The train conductor announced through the speakers, "We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai… Iwatodai. This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please take care to board before our departure."

I checked my watch. 11:56. Four more minutes. I was expecting it, I'm an eager little girl with brown hair and unusual scarlet eyes, though it runs in the family. Genetics, I say, is interesting. I just hope that I can actually be outside of a vehicle when it starts. A little advice: NEVER be INSIDE a vehicle during the Dark Hour, yes I know what it's called, if you are inside a vehicle during the Dark Hour, you'll become trapped INSIDE, since all the electronics will be cut off. Thankfully for me, I got out right a minute before it started.

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

_00:00:00_

_Dark Hour_

My good-luck charm shoes, checked. My trustworthy, and unexpected, weapon. I'll tell you sometime later. But now, I'm walking to the dorm that I was expected to live in for the next year, and hopefully for my relatives, the next year after that, and then the next year after that. They want to get rid of me. I don't care. Ever since I was born, someone wanted to get rid of me. But for now, I got to the dorm safely without encountering any Shadows. Yes, I know the names of Shadows, the Dark Hour, and Tartarus. I know everything about it.

I opened the dorm entrance door and went inside to find a little boy, about no older than thirteen, waiting for me. Eh…I'm used to people who are awake in the Dark Hour. I mean, I know about ten other people who are, what's one little boy going to change that?

"You're late." the little boy said to me. …Are those prisoner's clothes? "I've been waiting a long time for you."

He snaps his fingers and a red book appeared in front of him like magic. …Okay, that was a little bit unexpected, but a little boy in prisoner's clothes is already unexpected. Hell, the whole Dark Hour is unexpected. But I don't need to worry, he seems nice. But that still doesn't rule out the possibility that he's dangerous.

"Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry, all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff." He explained. He opened the red book to a certain page and held it out in front of him, waiting for me to sign it.

Since when does adults rely on the little children to do the most important things?

I sighed, and wrote my name in. "_Minako Arisato",_ I wrote, a name that is feared by others. But this little boy doesn't seem to care and immediately closed the book, careful not to let go and break it in any way.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." the little boy warned me. A warning too odd and mysterious to be said by a little boy no older than thirteen. "And so it begins." And he vanished, just like that.

"Who's there?" an unsure voice called out from the stairs. I looked around to see a brown-haired girl with a pink cardigan walking down the stairs. Shocked, and…scared, at seeing me. It might not be because of my family's signature scarlet red eyes, but because of me being here. Sounds logical.

Oh, I spot a gun on her thigh. Now, what did he say earlier about a gun in the dorm…I think he said something like, "If there is a person in the dorm carrying a gun, then don't worry. It's fake, it's used to-"

Before I can finish my flashback, a girl with flowing red hair walked down from the stairs. "Takeba, wait!" she shouted. Her commanding shout was what pulled me back to reality from my flashback. She is too rude to be true, but I decided not to argue until I know her better.

_00:00:01_

Dark Hour is officially over. Lights turned back on and my Mp3 is back on power, since I can hear the songs playing from the headphones on max volume.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." Mitsuru introduced, Mitsuru is very different with the first girl. Mitsuru has a sense of authority, but a blockade around her as well. "And this is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

"…Hey." Yukari said. She's obviously nervous, but I don't think she heard who I am yet, since my family isn't famous around these parts, so I'm ruling out the first possibility of why she's scared, which is my identity. So that only leaves the second possibility, the reason I was able to be around during the Dark Hour.

"Nice to meet you." I greeted back with a smile.

"Uh, y-yeah… Nice to meet you too…" She's not. Anyone watching her face and gestures would come to the same conclusion as well. She doesn't trust me, but I can understand that. "U-Um, is she allowed to be here?"

"It's a last second decision, Takeba, and we'll see if she is allowed to be here." Mitsuru replied, and then turned to me. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, Takeba will show you the way to your room."

I nodded, going along. Yukari showed me the way to my new room.

"This is it… Pretty easy to remember, huh? …Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh yeah, make sure that you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it." Yukari glanced at me nervously. "So, any questions?"

I already know all of the answers. "No, thank you." I replied, trying to get out all of innocence and sweetness that I have left into that one sentence.

"Then, can I ask you something?" Yukari asked. She was definitely unsure about something, and she doesn't really want to know the answer. She was too easy to read. But she was ready to hear my answer.

I nodded, I do not want to answer anything with my voice, if possible. All I have left is sarcasm in my voice, and possible anger.

"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

I half-nodded, half-shook. I really am tired today.

"Are you tired?" Yukari asked, now noticing my fatigue. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you in the first place. Um…if you have any other questions, then we can answer them later. Well, I'd better be going. Good night." And she walked away…to her room a few doors away.

I unlocked the door to my new room and went inside. The room's not bad, livable at least. All essentials are inside, study desk, bed, TV, and a mini refrigerator as well. I locked the door, took off my shoes and sat down on the bed.

That's when I noticed the boy.

"How did you get inside?"

"…"

"…I locked the door and made sure there was nobody here." I walked over to where the boy is.

"…"

I reached out with my hand and tried to touch him, but my hand went through his body. I quickly took my hand out of the boy's body. The boy's body felt like air.

"_I'm not a Shadow. I'm not your enemy."_

"A ghost then?"

"_Something like a ghost, but not a true ghost."_

"I don't understand."

"_You'll see."_

"Are you haunting this dorm or something?"

"_No. I came to find you."_

"Find me?"

"_I'm here to help you."_

"…Help? For what?"

"_You will see."_

"I hate it when people keep secrets from me!" I complained and lied down on the bed.

The boy walked over to where I was. _"You're…Minako Arisato."_

I sat upright. "How did you know my name?" I snickered. "Oh yeah, I'm famous."

The boy shook his head. _"That's not it."_

"Then what?"

"…"

"Fine then, what's your name?"

"_Minato Arisato."_


	2. Chapter 2 Reunion

"Minato Arisato?"

"…_Your family name. Minako, I am your twin brother."_

…

I don't believe him. Two reasons. One, I don't have a twin brother as far as I know. Two, he ripped off Darth Vader. NOBODY rips off Darth Vader.

"Do you think I'll believe you?"

"…_You haven't seen my eyes yet, did you?"_

I looked closely at his eyes. He was telling the truth. His gray eyes were the signature color of my family's as well. My family has two signature eye colors, scarlet red and dull gray, scarlet eyes are more common, gray eyes are very rare in our family, that's why I didn't notice it the first time. Our eyes are our identity. Without it, nobody can tell us apart in our family.

"…Fine, I believe you. But I didn't know that I have a twin brother, let alone a dead twin brother."

"_I'm not dead."_

"But then, how can you walk through walls and untouchable?"

"_I have a body, but I lost it. I didn't die, I can still get my body."_

"Oh. So you want me to find your body?"

"_No. In this kind of form, I will be able to help you."_

"What do you mean?" Then I understood what he meant. "So only I can see you? How do I know that you're not just a figment of my imagination?"

"_I can go away. In that time, I can see and hear everything, I will be able to tell you everything that I see and hear."_

"…I believe you, what can you help me with?"

"_I know about the Dark Hour. I can help you there."_

"I know a little about it, but if you can tell me more, then thank you."

"…_Get some sleep, Minako."_

"Can I ask for a favor?"

"_Sure."_

"Can you look around tonight for information about the Dark Hour and this dorm?"

"…_I'll do it."_

"Thanks. …Can you get out, please? I need to get changed and need to sleep."

"_Good night."_

The boy, Minato, went out from the room, leaving me alone. It seems that I am almost correct, as he walked through the door without even trying to open it. I wonder why he doesn't admit he's a ghost. There must be something that he's keeping secret, I know that, even though he had agreed to help me. But I don't really care about it for now.

What I do care now?

Sleep. For one full day I hope. I'm tired from jet lag.

I wonder who created school, made my life a living nightmare.

…

"_Minako. Wake up. Yukari's calling you."_

I woke up to see Minato beside the bed. "Thank you." I said grudgingly, sitting up. "Can you please leave the room? I need to get changed." Minato left me and I changed into the Gekkoukan High uniform.

"Minako, please wake up!" Yukari called from behind the door.

Oh, so only I can see Minato, since she didn't scream when Minato went through the door. I wonder if she's afraid of ghosts though…

"Coming, Yukari! Just wait for a while and I'll be there!" I felt bad that I have to leave my good-luck shoes at the dorm, since it's not allowed in the dress code. So I used my school shoes and opened the door.

"Let's go then Minako! …? Is there something on my face?" Yukari asked.

No, there isn't, but there is someone behind you. I tried to send a message through my mind, but Minato just stared at me, confused at what I was doing, it seems that ghosts cannot read minds. I sighed and shook my head.

Yukari then led me to the monorail station. I knew that only I can see and hear Minato, so I used my 'trick'. I flicked open my phone and held it to my ear.

"Hey Minato!" I spoke to my phone.

Minato got the idea at least, he was looking straight at me, waiting for my question.

"Minato? Who's that?" Yukari asked, curious.

"My twin." I answered shortly. I am now thankful that I watched House, he really gives out a lot of advice. "So how's it going, Minato?"

"…_Is this about the Dark Hour?"_

"Yup!" I said, excited to receive more information about the topic. I like to find information about the Dark Hour, I need to find out as much as I can. "So what did you find out about that?"

"_Do you know the basics of the Dark Hour, and the Shadows?"_

"Yeah…" I was racking my brain on how to say in code. We really need to work on codes when we're alone. "I'm just curious about that school. Is it true that there's ghosts at night?"

Yukari was trying hard not to shiver, now failing miserably, when she heard the word 'ghost'. I knew it. Now this will be fun to play it. Khehehehehehe.

"_There's Shadows in Gekkoukan High at midnight. It's called Tartarus. You know at least that, right?"_

"Yeah! Of course! I just never knew that rumor is true! So you saw the ghost already?"

"W-What ghost?" Yukari asked, trying her hard not to sound scared. "I-Is there a-a ghost in G-Gekkoukan?"

I blinked, acting as if I was confused. She is fun to play with. Yes, I know, I'm evil. "We're talking about my brother's school. Don't worry, the school's not in Japan."

Yukari let out a heavy sigh, relieved. "Phew! So there are no ghosts around here!"

I never said that. Oh look, there's a ghost behind you.

"The monorail's here already!" she said, and we stepped in the monorail with Minato following, walking through the crowd.

The monorail started and sped towards the school. "Look, Minako-chan! You can see the school from here! Isn't it huge?"

I turned to look out the window. Yes, I can see the school from here, it's gigantic, but I don't need about half of it.

_Flashback, two weeks ago…_

"Look, Minako! This school even has it's own swimming pool and kendo club!" my 'aunt' told me, acting excited.

Yeah, except I don't swim as a sport and I don't do kendo, I do a different martial art. Useless…

"Come on! Be excited, will you? Don't you want to get away from this school?"

"…Why send me away to a school all the way in Japan?" I asked. "So that you can break my connection with-"

"You noisy little brat!" she shouted at me before I can raise my voice. She raised her hand to slap me.

I grabbed her hand effortlessly and twisted her arm, dislocating it. Before she had a chance to shout out in pain, I pinned the arm to the ground, raising my foot with my good-luck shoes on, and crushed her arm, which instantly crushed her bones. She shouted in pain, tears springing out from her eyes. "You…"

"I don't care if you hate me. And even if you send me away, I can never break my connection. No matter where I am." I stood up and turned. "I'll go. _I'm sick of you._" I walked out from the room, leaving her to pick up her crushed arm.

_Present time…_

"Minako-chan?" Yukari called out, pulling me out from my flashback.

"Yeah, the school's gigantic!" I said out in response, energetically.

"Oh! We're here already!" Yukari told me as the monorail pulled to a stop. "Let's go then! …Oh, and please don't tell anyone about what you saw yesterday, okay?"

I nodded and we walked out off the monorail and walked towards the school, with Yukari warning me about the school, and Minato confirming the truth from the rumors. Since last night, my trust for Minato has risen by a little, he can tell me what some girls were talking about fifty feet away from me. And he has no intention to harm me, and he can't, if he claims to be my twin, I still can't push away the fact that he does have my family's signature gray eyes.

We searched for our class lists, and failed. Yukari decided to give it another go while I have to go to the faculty office anyway to sign in with the teacher.

"Oh, are you the new student?" The teacher called Toriumi greeted her, "Minako Arisato. 11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places… Let's see. In 1999… That was what, ten years ago? Your parents-"

It's a good thing that she doesn't realize what my name means yet. She might though, later on. I hope not.

"I'm sorry…I've been so busy, I didn't have time to read this beforehand." Toriumi apologized.

"…"

"Well, Arisato, you're in my class, which is 2-F. I teach composition. You should go along now, the Welcoming Ceremony is starting!" Toriumi said.

I walked away to the Welcoming Ceremony. Sitting behind a gossiping student. The student turned around to face me.

"Psst! Hey, you walked in with Yukari this morning, right?" the student asked me.

"Yeah, is Yukari popular here?" I asked back.

"Of course! Hey, you don't mind knowing if she has a boyfriend, right?" he asked.

"I don't know, sorry. I only talked to her this morning, I don't know her that much." I replied.

He turned around and began to gossip about Yukari and me with his friends. I didn't know that Yukari was popular. Then again, she looked like someone that had charm. I was listening to my Mp3 when I realized Minato walking back up to me after he had searched the audience. I slipped off my headphones, flicked open my phone and put it to my ear.

"Sorry that I got cut off earlier. Was there something I need to know?"

"_No. But Mitsuru said someone called Ikutsuki will visit the dorm in two days. He knows about the Dark Hour. It seems that he supervises a group called S.E.E.S. It's a group that maintains the wreckage of Shadows."_

"Thanks." I said, closing my phone and putting it back into my pocket. I smiled. The Welcoming Ceremony finished and Yukari walked over to me, since she found out that I would be in the same class as her, she thought that she would accompany me to the class.

"Hey Minako-chan." Yukari said as she observed my face. "Are you wearing contact lenses?" she asked, noticing my black eyes.

"Yeah, I have a problem with my eyes, can't see that well anymore since I read a lot." I laughed, and Yukari joined laughing as well.

Actually, I don't have a problem with my eyes, I have a 20/20 eyesight. The only reason that I'm using black-colored contact lenses is because I don't want people to know where I really am from. It'll just create an uproar, since I bet only my last name will create loads of rumors.

"Class! This is Minako Arisato! Her parents died ten years ago, so she is living at the dorm for the while. Even though her home-country is Japan, she lived in different countries over the past ten years, so be nice to her, okay?"

I won the bet.

"Wait a minute! Arisato? As in that-"

"Yeah, I know right? But she doesn't look like a person like-"

"Maybe it's just a rumor!"

"Yeah, she has black eyes anyways!"

Yup, loads of rumors. But I don't care, unless the rumors gets too extreme, then I need to take care of it.

"Please take care of me!" I said, bowing to the class.

"Okay then, Arisato, you can sit over there." Toriumi told me, and I went to the seat where she pointed. "Now, settle down class! Let's begin our lessons!"

Boring lessons. This is easy though, I've learned about it already. When I have free time, I'd rather study some higher material. So I called Minato over and talked to him for a while about S.E.E.S. It would be rude of me, and troubling, to get my phone during lessons, so I opened my notebook and wrote in it instead, with Minato leaning over to look at what I was writing. "So what's S.E.E.S?"

"_Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. It's a group that fights Shadows during the Dark Hour. You want to join?"_

"Depends." I wrote. "If it gets me closer to my goal."

"…_Has the weapons arrived yet?"_

"Not for another three days." I wrote. "I get to carry my shoes though, that's enough for now."

"_I hope so. You never know what the Dark Hour throws at you…"_

"I know what you mean. But I can handle it for now."

"_Good then. Just don't go dying on me."_

"Deal." I erased everything that I had written cleanly, careful not to let a word go out.

_Lunchtime…_

I sat in my seat, eating the food that I had gotten on the way here. Rumors. Lots of them are flying around. Annoying rumors. I slipped my headphones on my ears and turning them on in max volume, blocking out every outside noise. That's one reason I got headphones, I get to block out every noise with just slipping my headphones on and turning it on max volume. Another reason? I'm bored, didn't have anything to do. Why the hell does school have to be this boring? I can do something else with this kind of time. Seven hours wasted away…

"S'up! …Haha, you look like a deer in headlights." Some annoying boy with a blue cap on said to me.

"…"

"What? You're not talking?"

I don't know what to say, other than "Go away!" or "Shut up, I need to talk with the ghost beside me named Minato." I don't have any better responses. And I don't want to be rude to the stupid guy.

"I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya! I transferred here when I was in the eight grade, so I know how tough it is being the new kid!" Junpei said. "So I was just sayin' 'hey'. See what a nice guy I am?"

"…" It's better to observe and see what he does next. Especially with a stupid-looking and perverted-looking guy.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again!" Junpei said excitedly like a little kid when he saw Yukari approaching him.

"I swear, is there any girl that you wouldn't hit on?" Yukari sighed. "Seriously, can't you see you're bothering her?"

Good, thanks for backing me up, Yukari.

"What? But I was just bein' friendly!"

…Eh, nice try.

Yukari ignored him. "Looks like we're in the same class! What a coincidence, right?"

"Yep! Say, you wanna go to the sweet shop in the Iwatodai Strip Mall? I heard they have a new cake on the menu!" I said excitedly. I'm not acting, I really like cake.

"Sure! Why not?" Yukari said, accepting my offer. "Oh! But I forgot to bring my wallet with me…"

"Don't worry! I'll pay!" I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"…Is it okay? I mean, I bet that you don't really have that much…"

You certainly lost the bet there.

"No, it's okay, Yukari." I tried to sound as cheery as possible. "It's a thank you gift for showing me the directions. And I don't like to owe people is all."

"Hey! What about me?" Junpei cried out desperately. "I greeted you, didn't I?"

"…"

"Oh yeah!" Yukari said, breaking the awkward silence. "You didn't tell anyone about last night, did you?"

I shook my head.

"Good. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Perverted-looking Junpei probably reached his fantasies up in his head. "Last night?"

"W-What? Don't get the wrong idea!" Yukari said, trying to defend herself.

"She just took some of Mitsuru-senpai's cake. I caught her in the act." I said calmly, trying to cover up for Yukari's mistakes to say that out loud in front of a pervert.

"Oh. Well, good luck with Mitsuru-senpai, Yukari!" Junpei snickered and ran away.

"What-Hey!" Yukari sighed. "Well, thanks for covering up for me, Minako-chan."

I nodded. "No worries. Now, let's go to the sweet shop!"

The two of us walked over to the sweet shop, eating the newest item on the menu: chocolate cake! Yay! After eating one of it, we decided to head back to the dorm, since Yukari had something to do, I bet it's related to the Dark Hour, and I needed to talk with Minato, since he left to examine things in the dorm.

"So how'd it go?" I asked out-loud when I returned to my room and found Minato already waiting for me.

"_There's cameras hidden everywhere. Even in your room. I don't know when it records though."_

I put my good-luck shoes on and went out the room. "Where's the control room?"

"_Upstairs. Sneak up, don't let anybody know you're here."_

"Of course. You don't think I'm a-"

Freeze, stop. Footsteps approaching. Behind the sofa. …My mind does that when I'm in danger. Short but commanding commands, usually keeps me out of trouble, so I followed the commands. I peeked to see Mitsuru and silver-haired boy go inside the room.

"Can you go and see what they're doing?" I asked quietly.

"_I'll see what I can do."_

Minato walked inside the room and observed what the two were doing. After thirty minutes, the door creaked open and the two students went out of the door, with Minato trailing them and walking towards me. Before I can ask anything, he asked me one simple question:

"_Can you hack?"_

…

Five minutes later, I'm inside the control room, sitting down in front of the controls. Minato was watching the blank screen carefully. He took his hand and gently laid it on the keyboard, but it the screen didn't change since he wasn't able to touch anything.

"You know, I can't hack."

"_Then I'll do it. Just follow what I'm typing."_

I placed my hand where he placed his hand. He typed slowly so that I can keep up with him. After typing a few more keys, the blank screen suddenly came to life, showing a blocked screen. He watched the screen for a while until he placed his hand on the keyboard again and I followed his hand again. The screen then showed a list of recordings of the cameras in the dorm.

I never knew that I have a twin brother that is a master hacker.

…I am beginning to like him.

"_There. That recording."_ Minato said, pointing to a recording. I clicked on it and the recording played. The two of us watched it.

Oh. It was last night in my room.

Apparently, I was talking with myself, asking who the intruder is when there was no one there.

And so, Mitsuru and the silver-haired boy will think I'm delusional. I have to delete this recording.

"How do you delete this recording?"

"_Double-click on the recording."_ Minato said. I double-clicked it. _"And click on the option called 'delete'."_

…I have an evil twin brother that is a master hacker. Nice.

Deleted the recording, and now I have nothing else to do. Now I just need to go to my room and be more careful of being recorded. I think I'll stick to the phone-act for now until Minato can teach me how to disable the cameras.

Now to go and sleep again.

I still have a ten-hour jet lag, flying from New York. And there will be a full moon in two days. I need to rest up until then, if the research that we did was correct. I still have to be prepared for anything.

…

Well, the next day wasn't that interesting, except for the man that came to the dorm called Shuji Ikutsuki, as Minato has told me. Not that interested though, but it feels like he's hiding something. It might be related to my goal, so I stuck around, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school." Ikutsuki stared off in the distance. "'Ikutsuki'…kind of hard to pronounce, isn't it? That's why I don't like to introduce myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes…please, have a seat."

He's definitely hiding something. That or he's just plain dumb.

"I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a little longer before you receive a proper room assignment." Ikutsuki said, dropping his dumb act. He's hiding something, and I intend to know what. "Is there anything that you'd like to ask?"

"_You know it already right? He's hiding something. Don't trust him. He knows too much."_

"Just like me then. I know too much already…" I muttered softly, so soft that only Minato can hear.

"Ah? Yes, did you say something?" Ikutsuki asked.

"…Well, the other night, I saw something strange." I said, trying to see if he does know about the Dark Hour.

"Something strange?" Ikutsuki said. Now I know that he's hiding something. "Maybe you're just tired is all…"

"Well I wouldn't say so." I said. "See, I was walking from the station to the dorm and I saw the moon creepily yellow and the sky was green. And then there were all these coffins around me, and everyone was gone. It was so creepy, like a _ghost_-"

Yukari, who was here all along, shivered. I still have fun doing that. …Sorry Yukari.

"-Was creeping up behind me." Well that was true, but I'm talking about Minato here. "I saw this weird black blob, and it approached me, so I attacked it. Well it did die, but I had a small scratch on my arm. And I think it lasted for about an hour, more or less, and then everything went back to normal. Is it normal around here? I've been away from Japan for about ten years."

After my detailed report about two nights ago, it was safe to say that Ikutsuki knows about the Dark Hour, since he's not looking at me as if I'm crazy, and Yukari just looked away. Was that…guilt? I don't know, but I didn't pay much attention to her, but I did pay attention to Ikutsuki.

"Don't worry about it." Ikutsuki said. "Maybe it's just a nightmare."

"Maybe…" I said, playing along.

"Do you have another question?"

I shook my head.

"Well then, you should go to bed early." Ikutsuki said to me, standing up. "As they say, 'the early riser catches the bookworm'!" then he left Yukari and me alone.

"Don't worry. You'll get used with his bad jokes." Yukari sighed.

I nodded and went back up to my room. I opened my phone and placed it against my ear. "So what do you think?"

"_He's hiding something."_

"What do you think it is?"

"_Something close to your goal. S.E.E.S is hiding something, but it's just about the Dark Hour, and they said something about you being a good candidate. They want to make you join the group."_

"…Oh…so they can use-"

"_Of course. They're dead already if they can't."_

"Then I don't have to worry about anything else." I said, lying down on my bed. "Tomorrow night, right?"

"…_Full moon? Yeah. Be prepared."_

"…I don't want to sleep. I'm not tired." I whined.

"_Well, you can always ask them."_

"…I will never and can never break my connection." I muttered. "I think I understand why they all hate me."

"…"

"I can't ask them, I don't have my laptop with me." I pointed out. "Besides, I don't want to waste my money for a phone call all the way to New York."

"_Don't you have a branch here?"_

"I'm not familiar with the branch here. I need to ask the ones in New York to find out the branch in Japan's phone number and e-mail address."

"_Won't you be able to find the branch here?"_

"…Hm, good point." I said, grabbing my jacket and putting on my good-luck shoes. "Then I'll be going out for a bit."

"_Are you allowed to go outside?"_

"Nah. But I need to go sooner or later anyway." I opened the door, walked outside, closed and locked the door. I walked down to the lounge and bumped into someone when I was about to open the entrance door.

"…Hey. …You must be the new…I'm Akihiko Sanada."

"I'm Minako Arisato. Nice to meet you." I bowed a little.

"…Are you going out?"

"…I need to meet someone."

"…I need to meet someone too. Do you want to go together?" Akihiko asked. Seems like he's worried about me. I think I understand why, since it's ten o'clock now.

"…Sure." I nodded, I didn't want him to be overprotective of me if I refused. He might just follow me to where I was headed to later. "Where are you going?"

"Behind Port Island Station." Akihiko said. "Where are you going?"

"…Well, I can't really say for sure." I said truthfully. "…They're giving out clues to where I'm headed."

"…'They're'? So there's more than one person?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"…Nothing." Akihiko muttered. "So you want to see if the place is behind the Station?"

"Why not?" I said, following Akihiko.

We went to the Station and went behind it. Yup, I found a clue. The place is around here somewhere, just needed to find the building…

"Oh look! Shinji's Gekko friend brought a girl!"

I looked at where the voice came from, but I looked away when I saw the person, going back to what I was doing before.

"Hey little girl. Wanna play with us?" a guy said and approached me. I didn't care, but Akihiko did. If I was correct, Akihiko Sanada was a teenage-champion boxer. I think I'm correct, by the way he punched the guy out.

"What the fuck dude?" the creepy guy's friend said. "Oh, you're going to die now."

"Hey, stop." A guy with a beanie cap warned. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

I looked around while the guys were arguing, and finally spotted the building with the familiar emblem that I was looking for. I left the guys and ran over to the building, eager to see my friends and relatives again. It has been ten years.

"Hey, is that bitch doing suicide?" the guy said. "Isn't that place-"

Oh, so the punks here know about it. This will be easier to do. "Hey guys! Long time no see! Glad to meet you again!" I shouted loud enough that the punks could hear.

"The fuck? Is that girl crazy? Hey, let's get out of here." And the punks ran away like cowards.

I had fun. Now to make a real reunion.

I took out my contact lenses, safely put it inside the case, and open the door to the building. "Yo!" I shouted at the group, raising my right hand with the V/peace sign.

"Yo! That's our Little Minako! You were the one that was making the racket outside?" a man greeted back in response. His name's Hiro, older than me by three years, he's my cousin. It's not a big age gap, but the last time I was here was when I was six, so everybody called me Little Minako, including him. "Been ten years, eh?" he held up his hand for a high-five.

I high-fived his hand. "Yep! I needed to get rid of the punks outside."

"Eh, no worries. That happens every time. Those punks can get _rowdy_, if you know what I mean. Hehehehe." Hiro snickered.

"I'm betting that you're the one that leads the punks on those occasions." I joked.

"H-Hey! Well, sometimes…"

"Pervert!" I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Hey, Little Minako!" my other relative called, he's called Yaku. Older than me by four years, but he's my mother's cousin's son, so it's like a "long-distance" related relative. "Don't forget about us as well!"

"Yaku! I don't think we can forget you, after all, you were the one that came back with a broken bone when you were only four! I still remember your mother's face when you came back!"

"Yeah, but you were the one that-"

"Did I just hear Little Minako there?" a familiar voice called out from another room. "I didn't know you would come this fast! You missed us that much?" my also four-years older other cousin Rekka shouted.

"Of course!" I nodded excitedly. "Just got back from the Hong Kong branch, did you?"

"Yup! You wouldn't know how many times I almost got killed!" Rekka laughed.

I laughed along. Places like this are places that make me feel at home. My relatives are the only ones that feels like my family to me after my parents died, well, Minato might be my twin, but I don't know if he feels like a brother yet. "So where's the others?"

"Doing jobs. We have more of those nowadays." Rekka sighed. "So only three of us left for this week, and maybe next week."

"Oh yeah, I remembered why you came back from the Hong Kong branch…" I said. "You got promoted to be the head of this branch, right? Congratulations!"

"Yeah…but the tests-"

"Nah, all of you got graded fairly, don't worry." I reassured. "You did good, that's why you got to be the head of the branch!"

"…If you say so."

"Hey, when are you going to get back? It's almost midnight." Hiro stated worriedly.

"Eh, I'll be fine, after what I've been through, right?" I asked and raised my fist. Fist-bumped with Rekka. Sometimes my relatives wonder if I'm supposed to be a girl or a boy. "I got my good-luck shoes! Well it's a different one though, since I outgrew my last one from ten years ago, but it is still the same kind at least!"

"You got any other-" Rekka said, assuming head branch mode.

"No."

"Got an-"

"No. I only have these shoes."

"Then go. I don't want you to get killed only after two days you arrived here." Rekka commanded.

"Hey, at least give me an-"

"Sorry, ran out of supplies to make them." Yaku, the 'maker' in the branch, reported. "They can wear out after a few months of overuse, you know?"

I sighed. "So how many people are there in this branch? Five? Any girls?"

"Ten. Seven, as I said, have jobs to do." Rekka reported. "Sorry, no girls. They're all out in Europe, mostly in London."

"Oh, I see." I sighed again. "So I'll be the only girl here again, right?"

"Yeah, don't be so upset!" Hiro cried out. "Hey, you're the only girl here, and all the people here have far-blood relation with you, maybe some of them wants to date you! You know, forbidden love!" he gave me a thumbs-up and a wink.

"With you? No thanks." I laughed.

"Hey! That's mean." Hiro laughed along. "But anyways, I got a girlfriend already!"

"Who's the _unlucky_ girl?"

"A beautiful young girl!" Hiro whistled. "You should have seen her!"

I turned to Yaku. "High school?"

"Yeah."

I glared at Hiro. "You pedophile."

"Hey! I'm not even out of college yet! And this is a senior in Gekkoukan High!"

I gave him a serious-looking look. "What's her name?"

"Mitsuru Kirijo."

…

"KHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, Hiro, you need to learn how to lie better." I was still laughing. Hiro looked hurt. Wait a minute, he's serious? "Wait a minute, you're serious?"

Hiro shrugged, "Why is it that all of you laugh when I tell you that?"

"Hiro, are we talking about the _same_ Mitsuru Kirijo here?"

"…I…think so?" Hiro scratched his head. "Wait, there's more than one Mitsuru Kirijo?"

"Red-head girl with an authoritative aura?"

"Yup, that's her."

"NO WAY IN HELL."

"What? Is it that impossible?"

"Mitsuru Kirijo-senpai is closed off! She's cold towards other people! And she's too smart already! Unless you can keep up with her intelligence, there's no way you'll get to date her."

"…"

"…Minako, you forgot. Hiro's a genius." Yaku whispered into my ear. "He doesn't have to go to college, but he wants to since he has nothing else to do. He can skip college whenever he wants though."

"…Oh." I said. I remembered that he skipped elementary school and went to middle school when he was eight. That explains it. "Okay Hiro, at least you met the requirements to date Mitsuru-senpai, now all I have to say is…good luck."

"…"

"Okay, I'll be going off now! I'll come here again in a couple of days!" I waved. "Bye now!"

"See ya later!"

I closed the door behind me and walked over to Akihiko and the person with the beanie, I'm guessing he's Shinji.

"…Tch. This is that girl?" Yup, he's Shinji.

"…I'm Minako Arisato."

"…What, no handshake?"

"Even if I say, 'pleased to meet you', you won't be pleased to see me. And you won't accept my handshake anyways." I said. This is a psychological matter. I'll tell you why I learned that next time.

"…Tch." Well, yes, I won.

"…Let's go, Minako." Akihiko sighed.

I glared intensely at Shinji, who glared back. "Yeah, let's go back, Akihiko-senpai."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Your eyes are scarlet red."

…Oh, I forgot to put my contact lenses back. "…Let's go back, Akihiko-senpai."

"…This is your candidate?"

Akihiko raised an eyebrow questioningly. "…Yeah, why?"

"…No, nothing. I forgot what red eyes mean." He seems that he's telling the truth, he was confused after all. Now, I'm relieved. Means one less person to-

Akihiko cut me off. "Let's go Minako. Later Shinji."

I walked off, putting back my contact lenses on. I have to be more careful next time. I don't want them to panic. If he lives in the dorm, then I bet that he knows about the Dark Hour. I don't need to test him, since all the tests I have made until now resulted positive. So I'd just let out a hint about the Dark Hour.

"Hey, Akihiko-senpai?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard from a friend that the tides of the sea are affected by the moon's phases. Tomorrow's a full moon, beginning a new phase. Maybe something unexpected might happen…?"

"…Maybe." Akihiko said, thinking about the possibilities of what might happen. "Anyways, where did you go just now? You got me and Shinji worried."

"Oh, I was just visiting my relatives."

"…But be careful next time. There's a lot of bad guys there."

If you know me, you wouldn't need to advise me.

"Okay then. Thanks Akihiko-senpai." I said as we both entered the dorm.

…

Mitsuru was waiting for me in the dorm lounge.

"WHERE HAVE YOU TWO BEEN?"

This I can answer.

"I was visiting your _boyfriend_, Mitsuru-senpai. He's also my cousin, you know."

Mitsuru froze. Oh, so Hiro wasn't lying. Kind of odd for Mitsuru to have a boyfriend though. I thought companies like this would have arranged marriages or something. Unless this was forbidden love and they got away with it…

"H-How? D-Did he tell you?"

"You have a boyfriend, Mitsuru?" Akihiko asked, raising an eyebrow, amused.

"…GO TO YOUR ROOM, MINAKO ARISATO."

I think I crossed the line there. I have to be more careful next time. I followed her instructions and went up to my room. I still wasn't sleepy, but I had nothing else to do. So I went to sleep, unfortunately.

…

"Welcome back, Minako."

"…Hey Igor."

"I should tell you now then." Igor said. "From now on, you will be using my services in the Velvet Room. Should you need to access the Velvet Room outside your dreams, then I will give you this Velvet Key."

A bluish-purplish key was thrown at me from Igor. I caught it. The key had a warm glow around it, much like the Velvet Room. I pocketed it in my school uniform's jacket. I will be expecting my key to appear the next morning in my school uniform's jacket.

"And I will need an assistant from now on." Igor introduced. "He will assist you."

"My name is Theodore. I will be assisting master Igor during our services." A man wearing a blue uniform told me, holding a book.

"…It has been a long time, correct? Ten years…" Igor reminisced, closing his eyes.

"…You said ten years ago, that this place could only be accessed by the ones who have signed the contract." I said. "I did not sign the contract ten years ago, and yet I was still able to come here. …What is it?"

"…You will find out soon, dear Minako." Igor chuckled.

"…Then I should get going."

"Yes. Time marches on in your world." Igor said, the door opening. "Until we meet again."

…

Next morning. Minato watched S.E.E.S watch the recordings and show it to Ikutsuki. So Mitsuru and Akihiko were about to show the recording, but it somehow got 'deleted' because of technical problems.

"Good then, at least they won't show me talking to a ghost that only I can see."

"…"

…

After the boring school day, though I got into an interesting talk with Junpei, but I can't finish the conversation, I got back home. The package should have arrived then, but I guess there was a delay, such an unfortunate timing, and the branch was out of stock as well. Can't be helped then. Just have to rely on my good-luck shoes.

Now, time for hacking.

After we knew that the room was clear, Minato and me went in. Like the day before, Minato guided me at what I needed to type in. Turns out, they were also recording me before Minato came in. Now, I just need to hack in and place this recording in the space of today's future recording, in case they wanted to record me again. I don't have much time in the Dark Hour. I need to find that full moon Shadow, while they're wasting their time here finding out if I'm a suitable candidate, who I am.

I swiftly went back to my room, and locked myself in, preparing for anything that might come up at me. I don't think I'm that well prepared since I only have my good-luck shoes, but it is better than nothing. I went out the dorm without anyone noticing, since they were all already in the command room by then.

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

_00:00_

_Dark Hour_

I took off, searching for the full moon Shadow. It should be around here, somewhere. Stop. Footsteps approaching. Hide behind car. Observe. I peered through the car and saw a coffin, weirdly shaped to fit the shape of a sitting human in, I feel sorry for the poor guy. Going back to the task at hand, I looked to see Akihiko being chased by a huge, not full moon, Shadow that looked like a steel horse and headless knight.

…Good luck Akihiko.

What? My shoes are not cut out to fight metal! It's meant to be used on huge flat and sensitive surfaces! And I don't have anything else!

"You're not going to believe this! This thing is huge! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk… It's chasing me… I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there!" Akihiko shouted at a transceiver.

"Akihiko! Come in! We have some technical problems with the controls in the command room! Takeba is searching for Arisato since we can't see her through the screen." Mitsuru briefed him.

…Wait.

"_Well, I didn't exactly copy the recording from last night and put it for today's recording."_

"So what did you do?"

"What do you mean by you 'can't see her through the screen'?" Akihiko demanded.

"Well, every time we tried to log in to the recordings. A sentence pops up on the screen."

"What sentence? Is it blackmail?" Akihiko asked worriedly.

"I don't think so…"

"What's the sentence?"

"…You just got pwn'd…"

I stared at Minato. He grinned, satisfied at listening to Mitsuru's attempt to say 'pwn'd'. Oh, so that's why I typed, "pwn", I thought it was some kind of code. …Hey, I'm not a hacker, how should I know?

…I have an evil, pwning twin brother that is a master hacker. Better than nice.

"…" Awkward silence from running Akihiko. "…I'm near the dorm. Did Yukari find Minako?"

"…She just got back." Oh no. "…What? She's not here? Where could she be?"

"So she's not in her room?" Akihiko asked, now very worried.

"Yes, and she might be a victim! She's a candidate. And she experienced the Dark Hour two nights ago, she might be out there somewhere, Akihiko!"

"Dammit! I don't have anymore time! I can't search her in this condition, sorry!" Akihiko shouted.

"…Hurry back, Akihiko!" Mitsuru commanded. "We'll switch positions then!"

Now I feel guilty. I wonder how I'm supposed to help them-

-Wait, is that a crack in the armor?

This is a theory of mine, but there are people that uses powerful defense since they're very weak without the defense. I guess I can throw a rock at it, since my shoes is too big to fit through the crack, and I highly doubt that I can get the rock inside the crack to hit the person controlling it, but I need to find the right time so that I won't get caught. In five seconds.

…

Throw rocks. Metal fell, the body broke down. Hide behind car. Wait for Akihiko to get back to the dorm.

Oh, so it is weak.

Climb dorm's backstairs. Reach rooftop through ledge. Oh, Yukari's here too. Wait, is she angry or terrified at me? She's shouting at me something, but I don't know what, it's probably anger.

Oh shit.

Dodge sword. Grab arm, take sword. Cut off arm. Run to where Yukari is.

"Where have you been? We were so worried!"

"That doesn't matter right now! Can you fight?"

"…O-Of course!" Yukari looked defenseless though. Oh wait, she has her gun. She's taking it out and is now trying to shoot her own head. Well, whatever floats your boat. "These monsters…we call them Shadows!"

Unfortunately, the full moon Shadow that had ambushed me had made Yukari go up in flames before she could shoot herself. The flames weren't that big, but it was enough to make Yukari let go of the gun. The gun slid down to beside my feet. I took it. So this is one model of an Evoker.

"PERSONA!"

_Thou art I, and I am thou._

_From the sea of thy soul I cometh._

_I am Orpheus, master of strings._

Truth be told, it wasn't the first time I summoned Orpheus. The first time he spoke was ten years ago, and Orpheus speaks whenever I summon Orpheus.

"ORPHEUS! BASH!"

…Seems that the full moon Shadow is unaffected by the attack, and he's grown back another arm. Great. So I can't use my melee attacks, since it'll take too long. And the only magic skill that Orpheus knows is Agi, and that won't help either. Now what to do…

Oh yeah.

He said that I can call out a deeper amount of power from Orpheus for one time only, and I would feel immense pain to my head, probably pass out. I try not to, but I guess, and hope, this is the only time that I have to.

"ORPHEUS!"

I can say that Orpheus really has a deeper amount of power, judging by how painful it was when two hands ripped off Orpheus from the inside. I can see something come out of Orpheus, something that has coffins surround it. "Gah! Ugh…" So it really is painful, but I've got to do it. The new Persona roared in anger and trashed the full moon Shadow apart. The Persona grabbed the arm that I cut off earlier and crushed it, dissolving it into nothingness.

I'm beginning to like this Persona.

When the full moon Shadow was done, the new Persona became Orpheus again, and the pain was gone. I threw the sword on the ground and it disappeared. "Stay with me, Orpheus!" Orpheus nodded and took out the lyre behind Orpheus' back. Orpheus bashed the lyre on the weaker enemies that had spawned off the full moon Shadow.

When I was almost finished, Orpheus began to fade and I wasn't as focused as I was before. I'm starting to pass out. "Damn it! Orpheus!" Orpheus read my mind and threw the lyre at me. I caught it and threw the lyre at the Shadow. When the lyre had cut through the Shadow, Orpheus caught the lyre and disappeared. I then passed out, for ten days.

**DLWolf: Okay! Hello readers! First of all, thank you for reading this story, putting it into the favorites and alerts. Some of you readers know that I like to do this, but I like to make one of the characters in the story do the disclaimers. And I usually beat them up, physically or mentally, nyehehehehe. Now, who will be my next victim?**

**Minako: Oh hey! We've met before right? In Fused Dimensions?**

**DLWolf: Yeah! Good for you to remember me, Minako!**

**Minako: …Oh yeah. Geez, and how come I don't remember Minato and all that?**

**DLWolf: Nah, this'll be a one-time thing. I'll erase your memories at the end of the disclaimers is all. ****Now, how did I get an idea to make an OC for Mitsuru's boyfriend? Doesn't seem like Mitsuru at all, but I guess that's what made it interesting…or not it was just the trick of the mind, but I'm going to stick Hiro to become Mitsuru's boyfriend for a while.**

**Minako: …So what, do you want me to do the disclaimers?**

**DLWolf: Yup.**

**Minako: …Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. …And I probably will make sure he won't be able to.**

**DLWolf: …Wait a minute. Did you just call me other than my name? HEY! I told you before not to!**

**Minako: HEY! THAT WAS WHAT THE SCRIPT SAID!**

**DLWolf: What? Give it here! …Oh yeah, I forgot. I got too lazy to write my name after writing this for two days in a row. Hehehehe…**

**Minako: …**

**DLWolf: Okay, anyways! Fan of Fanfics21, maybe I'll make Minato do that, well, he doesn't want to see his sister's body, but maybe Yukari's… CA184, sorry, I didn't know you have a plan like this already, but I don't think it'll be the same as yours, of course, but thanks to looking forward to the future chapters! Ryurieri, it's like a dark past, but she's living in it now, so how do you say that? ledah13, I read that fic, but this one isn't like this one, well when the story goes on, it becomes a new and twisted plot, and remember, this is a semi-sequel, so the reference will come up about after the sixth full moon Shadow is defeated, aka, halfway through the story. Soulswallows, there might be MinaYuka, but I haven't decided yet if I will go with it, but I do have an idea for it, so I probably will do it.**

**Minako: Hey, so when will my memories be erased?**

**DLWolf: Oh hi. Well, you're going to forget everything about Fused Dimensions in about 3…2…1…**

**Minako: Hi.**

**DLWolf: Hi, nice to meet you, my name is DarknessLightWolf. I'm the author for this story.**

**Minako: Oh hi! Nice to meet you too!**

**DLWolf: Okay, so please R&R as usual, no insults please! Thank you readers! See you later!**


	3. Chapter 3 Shadow

Ten days of passing out didn't do me that well since I ended up in the Velvet Room.

"…Your power is channeled through your Social Links."

"Social Links?"

"Your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona power."

"…So if I want to be stronger, then I have to communicate with others?"

"Basically."

"…I wanted to close myself off from others as far as I can though." 

"It's your choice."

"…I'll talk to them before they find out who I am."

"…We, the residents of the Velvet Room, will be behind you with whatever choices that you chose. That is what the contract is for."

"…Thank you."

"No need to thank me. This is my job." Igor chuckled. "Time marches on in your world. You must get going."

"Then I'll be going now."

"Until we meet again."

Back to the present world. It feels nice to wake up again. One person on my right and a ghost on my left. Yukari on my right and Minato on my left. Minato didn't look that worried, in fact, he never shows his emotions. Yukari was looking more than worried though, that I have to help her.

"Oh, you're awake? Thank God…" Yukari sighed.

"_You finally woke up." _Thank you so much for your worry, Minato.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Yukari sighed again. "Yes, but I should be the one that asks you that. I'm the one that was supposed to protect you, not the other way around." Yukari smiled wearily. "Yes, I'm okay."

"I'm okay as well, thanks." I said. "…What is it?"

"…Well…I just wanted to say, that I'm the same as you."

I saw her biography already, since she was living in the same dorm as me, so I let her continue.

"My father died in the explosion of '99, and my mother and me aren't exactly on good terms. So I know how you feel." Yukari said, looking down. "I guess I told you this since I knew about you and you didn't know about me, so I felt that I should tell you."

Oh, if you knew, Yukari.

I noticed Minato pointing at the door. There was some knocking on the door and Hiro came in.

"Ah! Little Minako! How you doin'?" Hiro shouted when he saw me. A nurse came over and shh'd him. "Ah, sorry. So how you doin'?"

"I'm fine, Hiro." I sighed. He never changed. One look at him, and you won't believe he's a genius. He's too much like Junpei, only smart. I wonder why Mitsuru would want to date a pervert like him. "Yukari, let me introduce you to Hiro. He's my cousin and Mitsuru-senpai's boyfriend."

"Oh, so Akihiko-senpai wasn't joking?" Yukari asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "I'll leave you alone now. I need to get back to the dorm. Oh, Minako-chan, if you need to ask anymore questions, we'll answer it later, okay?"

Yukari left the room and closed the door. We waited until her footsteps were out of reach of our hearing.

"So where's the others?"

"They're out. They have jobs. We have more of these nowadays." Hiro sighed.

"So who's looking out for the branch?"

"We have a guard dog." Hiro told me. "Don't worry, he's loyal. C'mon, we have to go back to the branch. Your package's waiting for you at the branch."

"…Oh. So it's not going to the dorm?"

"What do you think others will think if they screen your packages?" Hiro asked, raising an eyebrow. "They still don't trust you well enough, even though you live at the dorm, doesn't mean that they have to trust you."

"Fair enough." I shrugged. "So are we going back to the branch now?"

"Yeah, you'll have to pick up the package and bring it back to the dorm yourself."

"…Mitsuru-senpai is living in the dorm."

Hiro jumped in his seat. "O-Oh, then I'll help you bring the package."

Gotcha.

After signing out from the hospital, we walked all the way back to the branch.

"Koromaru!"

A white shiba inu, in front of the branch, barked and stood up. He wagged his tail and scampered towards Hiro and licked his face.

"Koromaru?"

The white shiba inu, or Koromaru, took a step back and ran back to the front of the branch, looking at me with curiosity, probably thinking if I'm friend or foe.

"He was a priest's dog. We were friends with the priest before we died, so the intelligent shiba inu here, called Koromaru, took over for us for a day or so on days we have to leave." Hiro said as he walked towards Koromaru. I followed him. "Don't worry, Koromaru, Minako's a friend. My cousin, to be exact."

Koromaru barked and licked my hand. Yup, that is one intelligent dog.

"Come in, Koromaru, do you want some food?" Hiro asked, opening the door to the branch.

Koromaru barked excitedly and followed Hiro in. I went in as well. Hiro opened a can of dog food and dumped in on a plate, which Koromaru licked up happily. He barked again before he walked out the branch, walking to the shrine.

That dog is _too_ intelligent.

"Oh, here's your package, Minako." Hiro gave me a box. "And Rekka made Yaku make a "good-luck" charm for you already. It's in the box you're holding now."

"I thought I have more boxes…"

"I'm carrying it." he said as he took two other boxes. He sighed. "You know, you made us worry. You said you'll be back in a couple of days, but you never did. Fortunately, Mitsuru told me that you were out cold in the hospital. We were about to make a search too!"

I laughed and the two of us went back to the dorm.

The first thing I shouted when I got back?

"HEY, MITSURU-SENPAI! YOUR BOYFRIEND'S HERE TO VISIT YOU!"

…

Oh. So freezing time really is possible.

I took Hiro's boxes and walked up to my room, leaving Hiro, Mitsuru, Akihiko and Yukari alone in the silence. Well it can't be that bad, since Yukari met Hiro already, but I'm just worried how Akihiko will take it, he does like Mitsuru or something, right? I'm not sure though, but I thought they were in the same dorm, alone and together, for one to two years. Well, if nothing happened, then I don't really care.

I unpacked my stuff and hid some that are not supposed to be seen by others. …Don't think about it, seriously. Got my "good-luck" charm and hid it inside my uniform's pocket. After I did, I went back down to see the staring contest still on. I was gone for what, ten to twenty minutes? Damn, they're good. I went to the kitchen, cooked up some popcorn, sat on the sofa and ate popcorn.

…

This is getting too long.

"Hey!" I shouted at them.

… 

…Finally. At least I got a response. A small response, but still a response. They changed their stares at me. Okay fine, it is my fault that they were having a staring contest. Hey, wanna share my popcorn, Minato? Oh right, you're a ghost. Sorry for my sarcastic joke, can't resist.

…

"Hey, I was just shouting out the truth just now." I shook my head. "Seriously, Mitsuru-senpai, how come you hid the truth from us?"

"W-Well…"

"…Uh…"

…

"…Never mind then." I sighed. "Anyways, thanks Hiro. Good night!" I finished my popcorn and went back up to my room.

I was lied down on my bed, ready to sleep-

PLOP.

Ah, a dart with a suction cup on my window. Oh? There's a letter attached to the dart. I opened the window and grabbed the dart before it fell. I opened the letter.

It was blank.

Now I know this was from Hiro. I curled the paper up into a ball and threw it at the short, black haired person that was walking away from the dorm, whistling. I could hear a distant "Ow!" as it hit Hiro's head accurately.

…I get to keep the dart. That's my revenge.

…

The next school day I can summarize in two words:

Utter boredom.

Though the evening was interesting, makes me curious a little bit more. That's why I'm still living, my curiosity, or not I would have killed myself a few years back. Ironic, isn't it? If you've heard the saying, "Curiosity killed the cat." Well I guess I'm not a cat, that's probably why. No, that's not why. I learned to control my curiosity a few years back, that's probably why I'm still alive. A lot people are curious, but they just don't know when to ask it at the right time and place, that's the reason the saying came, not a lot of people know the right time and place. Just saying.

"Oh! There you are!" Yukari shouted when she saw me at the fourth floor. "Everybody's waiting for you already! Let's go in."

"Ah, there you are. I'm glad that you're okay." Ikutsuki said when he saw me enter the room. "The reason I asked you here is because I need to talk to you. Please, have a seat."

I looked beside me to see Minato glaring at the group with an analytical glare. _"Yukari doesn't seem to want you to join, mostly because of guilt. The rest are expecting you to join."_

I gave him a slight nod and sat down. "Um…what is this about?" I decided to play as the innocent little girl who knows nothing about the evil reality in the world. It worked though.

"Oh, and this is Akihiko." Ikutsuki told me. "He's a senior and is living in the dorm."

"…We met already."

"Well that makes it easier!" Ikutsuki exclaimed excitedly. "Okay, let me start you off by asking you this: Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

I gave out a dry laugh.

"Well, I can understand that it is unbelievable to almost anyone-"

"I never said that I didn't believe that." I said coldly, giving off a cold atmosphere. "I've been living in the Dark Hour for ten years, do you think I don't believe that?"

The group looked at me, surprised. "You know what it's called?"

"Yup." I took out a crumpled paper from my pocket. I smoothed it out and cleared my throat. "The Dark Hour. An hour 'hidden' or in between one day and the next. Most people do not experience the Dark Hour, but some people with the potential, or Persona, are able to." I read out loud. "A Persona is a 'mask' of a person. It is received by going through hard challenges in life. Only people with enough will are able to control it and master it. The people that have awaken to a Persona are able to explore the Dark Hour. Personas are evoked by a tool called an 'Evoker'." I hid a grin when I looked at their shocked faces. "Shadows are beings that feed on the negative energy. We do not know when it first exists, but we can suspect it first existed when the first human existed, since humans are beings that throw out negative energy the most than others." Minato gave me a grin. "Tartarus is the nest of all Shadows, also called the Tower of Demise. It appears only during the Dark Hour. But during the day, it is the Gekkoukan High School."

I'm finally finished. I don't like to read out loud that much, but it was worth it. I get to see faces that I might never see again for my whole lifetime. I wanted to laugh, but I thought it wasn't appropriate, and it'll break the cold atmosphere.

"…Just how do you know that much?" Mitsuru demanded.

I laughed again. My eyes flared up, like it always have, but with more flare. "You think I came here without preparing myself?"

"…"

"I am guessing that you want me to join your group?" I glared at the group. "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. …Or S.E.E.S?"

"…"

"…So?"

"…Yes, we want you to join our group." Mitsuru said and opened the briefcase on the table. "We've prepared an Evoker for you. We want you lend us your strength."

"…" I looked at the Evoker. A gun Evoker, the one that Yukari had, and probably the kind that all of the people here have. What's their purpose to ask me to join them? "Let me think for a while."

"Seriously?" Akihiko shouted at me, slamming his fists on the table. "You know that much and you're still thinking to join us?"

"Akihiko!" 

I didn't flinch, physically or mentally. I'm used with that kind of voice from other people. I don't care at all. "I have my own rights. I need to think about my studies as well." I said icily back at him.

The group flinched at my tone. I was certainly someone that looked like an innocent little girl that can't shout back at other people. They weren't the only people that thought wrong though.

"I-I'm sorry." Akihiko said, looking away in guilt.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, Mitsuru-senpai, but I will need to think about my studies for now."

"…No. I'm sorry for not thinking about your situation." Mitsuru apologized. "Tell me when you have reached a decision."

"_When do you think you'll join?"_

"Mitsuru-senpai."

"Yes?"

"May I see the files of S.E.E.S' operations?" I asked. "I want to read what S.E.E.S has accomplished up until now."

"…"

"Let her, Mitsuru." Ikutsuki said. "It might help her reach a decision anyways."

"…Fine. But promise us that you will not tell about S.E.E.S and the Dark Hour." Mitsuru said.

I promised. I don't have another choice anyway; I needed to see their files.

"It's over there." Mitsuru said, pointing to a cabinet. "Feel free to read it, but put it back into the order we have arranged."

I nodded and the group left me with saying, "Good night." Leaving me alone with Minato. I looked through the files and saw the one that I wanted to read.

"The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or S.E.E.S, is a group dedicated to erase Shadows and the exploration of Tartarus. It is a school club, but the group functions during the Dark Hour. The group is founded by Takeharu Kirijo, the CEO of the Kirijo Group." I read. So it was Mitsuru's father. That explains the school club.

"The first club advisor is Shuji Ikutsuki, a former scientist in a group of researchers founded by the former CEO of the Kirijo Group in the year 1999." Oh really? That I didn't know. So Ikutsuki knows answers, and I intend to find out what those answers are. I set down the files and arranged them back to where they were before. Then I carefully closed the door and walked back to my room.

"_So. When are you going to join?"_

"…"

…

"Mitsuru-senpai, I will join S.E.E.S."

"Whoa! You have the potential too, Mina-tan?" Junpei, the new recruit, asked.

Yes, I did join S.E.E.S the next day. It's better to join them now and find out, since I doubt that they'll let me see their operations if I don't join.

"That's the reason that I'm living in the dorm, Junpei." I answered. "If I don't have the potential, then I won't be living in the dorm."

"Wait!" Yukari exclaimed. "So he's going to stay at the dorm?"

"Yes. Iori will be staying at the dorm from today on." Mitsuru said.

"WHAT? Why him?" Yukari whined.

"…So with enough members, we can now start to explore Tartarus!" Akihiko said excitedly.

"Unfortunately, you can't join them fight the Shadows, but you can follow us to the entrance of Tartarus." Mitsuru cut in.

"…I know. Don't remind me."

"What's Tartarus?" Junpei asked like a kid. "Sounds like toothpaste."

"Tartarus is the nest of all Shadows." Mitsuru said. "But for today, we should rest. We have to be prepared to enter Tartarus."

…

"Let's go, we'll explain on the way." Mitsuru said the next night.

Yes, as I have said before, Tartarus is Gekkoukan High in daytime. Imagine Yukari's and Junpei's surprised faces when they saw Gekkoukan turn into Tartarus.

Imagine Mitsuru's and Akihiko's surprised faces when I said, "I've been in there before."

I have. I'm not lying. It was ten years ago. A day after my parents died in the car crash. It was a little scary, but hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?

"…That we can leave you in charge." Akihiko said.

"What? Why her?" Junpei whined.

"Since she has been here before, and she has defeated a Shadow first-hand." Akihiko explained. "And she can summon her Persona fine. Can you both summon your Persona fine as well?"

Yukari and Junpei stared at me uncomfortably, and then stared at Akihiko with a look that clearly said, "No."

"We're talking about Shadows here. Without your Persona, you're dead." Akihiko said.

…Well, that's not true…almost.

"Then, let's start. The entrance is over there." Mitsuru said, pointing to something that might look like a door.

"So you're not coming, Mitsuru-senpai?" Yukari asked.

"…I will provide back-up. It is imperative that I do so." Mitsuru said, moving over to the motorcycle equipped with machines.

I looked around and saw a glowing Velvet Door. I walked over and unlocked it with the Velvet Key that I took out from my pocket. The door opened and gave out a blinding light, and I'm in the Velvet Room. I never accessed the Velvet Room from outside my dreams before, but this is clearly the same thing.

"Welcome back, Minako." Igor greeted.

"Hi Igor. And hello, Theodore." I greeted back.

"Please call me Theo, Master Minako."

"…So what's the Velvet Room for?"

"…Our service inside the Velvet Room is to fuse your Personas." Igor said. "You are different from the others, you wield the Wild Card."

"The Wild Card…oh, you told me that before, right?"

"Yes. You are a person like the number zero." Igor explained. "Filled with many possibilities. You are able to wield more than one Persona, unlike the others. During battles, you may have chances to gain a new Persona, and one way to strengthen your Persona abilities are to fuse those Personas into a new and powerful one."

"Oh."

"…You have encountered Orpheus, but you will still encounter more Personas." Igor said. "More than two hundred. You have many capabilities."

"I understand. I will come here later then."

"Yes…until we meet again." Igor said, and the door opened, and I was back at Tartarus.

"Hey, what is it, Mina-tan?" Junpei asked, still pissed off that I became the leader.

"Nothing." I shook my head. "I'm just thinking about Tartarus."

"Well, don't zone out again! We can't have a leader sleeping in Tartarus!"

"Yeah, let's go then." I said, climbing up the steps leading to the entrance of Tartarus.

"Wait! Do you plan on going there unarmed?" Mitsuru shouted worriedly. "Even if you're just going to have a feel of it, do you still plan on going unarmed?"

"Well…I have a Persona…" And will receive more.

"But you can't keep on calling out your Persona forever, that will make you tired." Mitsuru made a motion for me to come to her, and I did. "Here, take this naginata. You will need a weapon to fight the Shadows, you can't rely only on your Persona."

I have a naginata in my room, I'm just too lazy to bring it. The naginata in my room is a better quality one than this replica, but I don't want to go back to the dorm and wasting time. So I led the group into Tartarus with the replica naginata.

"Can you all hear me?" Mitsuru's voice asked through the transceiver. "I will be providing back-up from here. My Persona will be able to scan Tartarus, so it is important for me to stay here and guide you through Tartarus."

After the introduction, I found a Shadow who was trying to ambush me. I quickly slashed it open with my naginata. There was nothing inside the Shadow, not even a piece of brain, it was just black. I guess Mitsuru was right when she said that I needed a weapon to take care of the Shadow, I wouldn't be able to whip out my Evoker, shoot myself, and call out an attack in time. I noticed the Shadow's friend and shot myself with the Evoker, calling out Orpheus. This time though, Orpheus didn't speak, maybe it was because that I called out the _thing_ inside Orpheus, but he was just as powerful as usual, so I didn't see that as a problem. And I killed the Shadow easily, just like the Shadow before.

After we separately defeated the Shadows, I gained two new Personas, Apsaras and Pixie, but I want to see what they can do. I guess that I'll just wait until I have more Personas, then I'll fuse. But seriously, these Shadows are too easy, I've fought off worse.

"Okay, that's far enough, we won't be needing to go up to the next floor." Mitsuru said. "We can do that later. For now, return back to the entrance, there should be a transporter near you, use it to return."

I found the transporter. It was…weird, but if I remembered correctly, that was the way that I used to get out of Tartarus. If I remembered correctly, all you have to do is to touch the green light coming out of the transporter. I touched it and was transported directly back at Tartarus. The others followed me as well.

"So how was it?" Mitsuru asked us.

"It was tiring." Junpei said. Whoa, Junpei the overactive kid, tired?

"That was because you were jumping around like a kid!" Nice one Yukari.

"Hey! You're tired as well, Yukari!" Junpei countered.

"Well actually, I'm still trying to catch my breath." Yukari confessed.

"That is one effect of the Dark Hour, you will become tired more easily." Mitsuru said. "But don't worry, you will get used to it."

"…I'm not that tired." I shrugged. "Probably because I'm used to it already."

"For how long have you been awake in the Dark Hour?"

"Ten years. First awakening to Persona? The same day." I said. "I'm going to go back to the dorm now, bye!"

"…"

"_You have more experience than they do. That's an advantage for you. You have experienced more things than they do, that could be an excuse of why you know all about the Dark Hour."_

"But not about Tartarus." I muttered softly as I turned my back to the group. I walked out of Tartarus and walked back to the dorm. "That, I can't explain since I was away ten years ago and I wouldn't be able to find out about Tartarus when I was only six years old."

"…_True. But I feel that the your identity will be uncovered in the near future."_

"You're not psychic right?" I asked. "I'll try to keep my identity for as long as I can. But if I need to use my identity, then I'll use it."

"_I'm not psychic. But I do know you for a long time now."_

"How long?"

"_Your whole life."_

"…"

"_I didn't need to find you, but for you to find _me_. The only reason that you are only able to see me now is because of the Shadows."_

"What? So if it's because of the Shadows, I can see any ghost now?"

"…_Not exactly, I told you before, I'm not a true ghost. Only you can see me and hear me, for some time. "_

"What do you mean?"

"…"

"…I'll find out soon, won't I?"

"…_Yes. You will see for yourself."_

"…Then I'm looking forward to it."

"…_Eh, maybe not."_

I threw a glare at Minato and opened the door to my room. I locked the door once I got inside and jumped on the bed, careful not to trip on anything. "…I'm going to sleep. …" I glared again at Minato and he left me so that I can change my clothes. I then slept until the next day.

…

School was quite boring, as usual, except for the interesting speech from Mitsuru. Quite interesting, and very intelligent, as expected by Hiro's girlfriend. …No, that just sounds wrong. I'll rewrite that: Quite interesting, and very intelligent, as expected by the heir of the Kirijo Group.

The afternoon was also quite interesting though. Junpei and me met with Akihiko, who was surrounded by his fan girls as usual. When Akihiko greeted Junpei and me, his fans were glaring daggers at me. I could counter it back with a greater force, but I can only do it with my contact lenses off, so I don't think I'll do that for a while. I shrugged them off with an incredible force and continued to listen to what Akihiko was saying.

"…I'll meet you two later at the police station."

…The police station? Oh, this is going to be good. I will have to make sure that my contacts are in their places and that it will not fall off.

…

After reaching the police station, we found Akihiko already talking with one of the officers in the station.

"…Thank you, sir. Oh, these are the ones that I was talking about." Akihiko introduced us. "This is Junpei Iori and Minako Arisato."

"A-Arisato!" the officer exclaimed when he heard my last name. Oh, so he does know. Well, he doesn't look like the officer who slacks off all day, so he should probably know already.

I acted as the innocent little girl again. If I have to keep this up, I _will_ become an innocent little girl. …That might be good, but at least they won't know what's coming if they try to attack me. "Um…yes?"

The officer analyzed me, and finally sighed. "I'm sorry. I have mistaken you for another person."

Nah, he got the right person. But he doesn't know that…yet. "…"

"Well, my name is Kurosawa. Call me Officer Kurosawa." the officer introduced himself.

"Officer Kurosawa-san knows about the Dark Hour, even though Kurosawa-san cannot experience it." Akihiko explained. "He will provide the equipments for our group, but it will be for a price."

"Of course. Nothing is free in this world, after all." Kurosawa said.

"…"

"This is from Ikutsuki-san. Use it well." Akihiko said, giving both of us 5,000 yen.

"…Thank you." I replied and examined the equipment on sale.

"…"

I flipped open my phone and put it to my ear. "…What do you think?" I muttered softly.

"…_It's not bad…for a beginner's weapon. Good for Junpei and Yukari, but for you-"_

"I can use the ones I have now. It's easier that way."

"…"

"…So, did you come to a decision yet?" Kurosawa called.

"…I want to buy this bow and sword, please." I said. I gave out my hand in front of Junpei.

"What?"

"Your money, I need it."

"What? No way!"

"Do you want to die in Tartarus or do you want to lose 5,000 yen?"

Junpei thought about it. He _actually_ thought about it! "Okay, never mind, I'll use my own money." I said and sighed, giving up. "Keep your 5,000 yen."

Junpei looked guilty but looked away. I took out a note of 5,000 yen, so in the surface, I have 10,000 yen. I used the money to pay for Yukari's new bow and Junpei's new sword. I hope Junpei feels grateful, the sword he uses now doesn't exactly fit with him.

"…"

"Then I'll be going now." I bowed to Kurosawa. "Excuse me." I walked out of the police station with Junpei tailing me behind.

"…Sorry, Mina-tan." Junpei apologized, still looking away from me. "I needed the money…I don't have any…"

"It's okay, I understand, Junpei."

"…"

"…I'll go back to the dorm first, okay?" I said, glancing a look at Junpei. "See you later."

I walked back to the dorm alone, leaving Junpei back at the Mall. I flipped open my phone and put it to my ear when I noticed Minato quiet for quite a while. "What is it?"

"_I want to keep a pet."_

"…"

"_I want to have a dog as a pet."_

"!" I glared at Minato. "Wait, are you saying-"

"_That dog was too intelligent. But intelligent enough to have a Persona."_

"…You're quite observant." I muttered. "Do you want to be my 'eyes'?"

"…_Why not? You're too busy trying to hide your eyes anyways."_

"…Deal." I nodded. "…So what are we going to do with Koromaru?"

"_Depends. Leave him alone with his Persona? Take him into S.E.E.S? Or let _them_ observe him?"_

"…I'll tell _them_ to observe him for a while."

Now to make a _real_ phone call.

…

After I made the phone call and got back to then dorm, I gave the equipment that I have bought to Yukari and left Junpei's on the lounge table so he could pick it up when he gets back. Mitsuru told me that I can tell them to go to Tartarus whenever I want, but there has to be at least Mitsuru or Akihiko present. Then I told Mitsuru that we are going to go to Tartarus, which Mitsuru agreed to and called everyone to be present in front of the school before midnight. I went to my room and prepared the weapons that I would use in Tartarus.

Better naginata equipped, checked.

Worse naginata thrown away, checked.

Well, I didn't exactly throw it away; I simply sold it with a "dealer". They don't know the difference between the real thing and the fake, so I sold it for much more than I should have sold it for. I sold Yukari's and Junpei's old equipment the same way as well.

I know it's messed up.

But I have done it before. Many times.

The group met up at the front of the school and waited for the Dark Hour to come.

"How long?" Junpei whined. "I can't take this anymore!"

"Shut up, Stupei! We only waited for five minutes!" Yukari scolded him. "The Dark Hour is going to come in a minute!"

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

_00:00:00_

_Dark Hour_

"Oh, it's here already." I pointed out.

"Is the difference always this freaky for you?" Yukari asked, glancing at the coffins on the street.

"Once you get used to it for ten years, not really."

"…"

"…Now then, we can't waste anymore time." Mitsuru said and opened the door that led into Tartarus.

We followed Mitsuru into Tartarus and the usual group (Me, Junpei and Yukari) went into Tartarus. We easily went up to the fifth floor and defeated them easily. All that we have to do was wait for Yukari to strike their brains and attack them, easy enough. We went down to the entrance of Tartarus and went back to the dorm. We came back in a few days and continued what we started. The tenth floor was a little bit harder, but not that hard as well, as they went down easily.

The fourteenth floor was hell.

We rested for a few days when we reached the thirteenth floor, and continued to the fourteenth floor. That was where I met the final guardian of the Thebel block. The hell of the Thebel block.

"Mitsuru-senpai!" I called out to the transceiver. "Can you analyze this Shadows' weaknesses?"

After a moment of silence, Mitsuru answered. "No. This is like the Shadows before. I can't find their weaknesses. Try to use every kind of attack to find out the weaknesses yourselves!"

That was quite unhelpful. But nonetheless, I asked Yukari to do Garu on the Shadow, which worked well, but not a huge hit, and Junpei to do Agi on the Shadow, which didn't work that well. I tried to slash it with my naginata, but it didn't even leave a scratch. So no physical attacks then, and I'm guessing that magical attacks, especially Agi, only leave one to two scratches. …This is not going good.

Dodge attack! Woah! That was close! Didn't see that coming! I attacked the Shadow with a Bufu, but it didn't really do that much damage. Junpei, being useless, defended himself and let the Shadow take it's turn.

…Oh…now it's aiming for Yukari. …Oh! That must have hurt! Yukari's knocked down. That's not good, Yukari was our main healer. The Shadow got an extra turn and attacked Yukari again, now she's unconscious.

…Oh no. Now, it's aiming for Junpei.

Junpei dodged out of the way in time, but he was panting. I can see that the Dark Hour is taking is affecting Junpei, especially when he's running around, trying to avoid from getting hit by the Shadow. I can't let this go on, it'll kill the both of us.

"…Junpei!"

"What is it, Mina-tan?"

"…Take Yukari down to the entrance!" I shouted at him, loud enough so that Mitsuru and Akihiko could hear me. "And don't come back! Whatever the circumstances!"

"WHAT! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?" The three shouted at me, leaving the annoying feedback sound from the transceiver. Fortunately, I took the transceiver out of my ear before it could permanently damage my ear.

"NO, I AM NOT!" I shouted back. "JUNPEI! TAKE YUKARI BACK AND DON'T COME BACK!"

"What about you?" Junpei asked worriedly.

"I'll deal with the Shadow. Alone."

"WHAT! NO WAY AM I-"

"JUNPEI! DO YOU WANT TO LIVE OR TO DIE?" I shouted at him.

"…"

"…Then do as I say, or all three of us will die." I told him, my voice softening.

"Wait." Mitsuru's voice said from the transceiver. "Are you planning to sacrifice yourself?"

"…" I glared back at the Shadow who was glaring at me. "You can talk, can't you? Just like Orpheus."

"…It has been a long time since I encountered a human with a sharp mind before."

"!" the others exclaimed. I knew it. That Shadow seemed too intelligent to understand our conversation.

"…So there was a human who you have encountered before?" I asked. "Other than us?"

"Yes. And they are quite similar to you. They share a significance resemblance that you hide."

"…Do as I say, Junpei." I said quietly. "Do it now."

Junpei was confused of what had happened, but reluctantly nodded and carried Yukari back to the teleporter. Then, the two disappeared when they touched the teleporter's light. I could hear an argument through the transceiver, but I couldn't hear much since the volume was down. I put the transceiver back on my ear and focused on the Shadow, who was waiting for me to make a move.

I took out my contact lenses and safely put it away in the case. "Do you mean my eyes, Shadow?"

"You know it as well as I do." the Shadow answered. "But I guess your friends do not understand the significance behind it."

"…You said that you have encountered a person with my eyes." I said with a quiet voice. "Who?"

"…I do not remember their name, but they are quite strong." the Shadow said. "Very strong."

"So there is more than one? Do you remember what they look like?" I asked.

"…No. But all that I remember are the eyes. One of them has eyes like yours…" the Shadow informed me. "The other, I have forgotten."

"…Why are you telling me this?"

"…You could say that this is tribute to them." the Shadow said. "…Do you know, that Shadows do not truly die. They may have seemed to disappear into nothingness, but we are just waiting to revive back and regenerate."

"…So I'm guessing that they have defeated you once?"

"…It seems so. I have lost parts of my memories. I am sorry, human."

"…You still won't let me pass, won't you?"

"…Of course not." the Shadow said. "They have fought hard to defeat me. I was once also very strong, but I was defeated, and revived into a weakling."

"…"

"If you cannot defeat me now, then you will lose all of my admiration towards you." the Shadow said. "And to the ones that have defeated me previously."

"…Why me?"

"You have the same energy that that person had once brought. You have the same power…and you two are alike…very alike with each other…"

"…When were you defeated?"

"…Ten years ago."

"! …Could it be…mother…?"

"I do not know, human. But you two had shared a resemblance. Almost as if you two are the same person…"

"…Then I'll defeat you." I said with determination. "With my honor, and the honor of the person who had defeated you.

"_You will?"_

"I have to, it's the only way to go up." I muttered.

"_Then I'll help you."_

I threw away my naginata and took out my "good-luck" charm. "Now, all I have to do is to defeat this Shadow. I bet it won't be that easy."

"…_But you did defeat that-"_

I grinned. "Yeah, but a dummy is a dummy. This is the real thing."

"_Don't forget that you're-"_

"Of course. Nobody can forget."

"…_Then good luck."_

"Thank you." I said, observing the "good-luck" charm. "But I wonder if this really works…"

"…_It's better than nothing, at least."_

"True. Completely true." I said, throwing the "good-luck" charm up into the air back and forth, I then put it back into my pocket. "But it has been a while since I encountered an enemy that is resistant to physical attacks."

"Then let us fight, human." the Shadow said. "…That weapon…"

"What?"

The Shadow chuckled. "You remind me of a friend of mine. You might meet him later."

"Friend or foe?"

"That is his choice." the Shadow said. "Now, shall we fight?"

"Of course."

The Shadow tried to attack me. Dodge, kick. Back flip. Kick column, land on hands, front roll. …Where'd it go? How can that big Shadow hide? No…calm down. If it can't hide in the room, then it'll hide - dodge! That was close! How did it cling on the roof?

"_Remember your fights before. It might be different, but it still uses the same principle."_

The same principle? Which one? Oh. "You mean Persona?"

"_Of course."_

I took out my Evoker and triggered it. "Orpheus! Agi!" Orpheus appeared and melted the Shadow's legs. It became stunned, unable to move, so I attacked again. "Orpheus! Agi!" The fire appeared on the Shadow, but quickly went away.

"You are good." the Shadow said.

"…There's a catch, isn't there?"

The Shadow swung it's lance-like arms suddenly. Jump! Ow! I got slashed on my leg. It's a deep wound, I don't think I'll be able to walk normally, unless I can get it healed, fast. Damn it, why did I have to send Yukari down? "…Pixie! Dia!" I said, triggering the Evoker. It healed a layer of my wound, but it will need more than a Dia to fully heal this. I don't have much time, the blood is gushing out from my leg. I ripped off the sleeve from my uniform and tied it around my leg. It's not much, but I hope it'll hold until the end of the battle. "Orpheus! Agi!"

The fire hit the Shadow, who is has recovered it's senses in it's legs, unfortunately. I leaned against the wall and stood up, glaring at the Shadow.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" the Shadow asked.

"Of course not." I answered. "Once I promise something, I'll stick to the promise. I won't back down."

"Then show me what you have been training for." the Shadow said, regaining it's battle pose. "For the past ten years."

I nodded and got ready to fight, but put pressure on my good leg. "Orpheus! Agi!" I called out, striking fire on the Shadow.

"…What is your intention?" the Shadow asked. 

"…You cannot feel your armor melting away?"

"So that is your intention?" the Shadow asked, amused. "And what do you plan on doing with your condition?"

I took out my "good-luck" charm. "As you have said before, I did not train for nothing. I have trained in worse conditions." I threw my "good-luck" charm at the Shadow, striking it right on it's chest. I leapt up towards the Shadow, took the hilt of the "good-luck" charm, and cut through the body of the Shadow, which made it cry in agony. "I'm sorry. Orpheus! Agi!" I took out my "good-luck" charm and the cut burned. I then cut off the Shadow's head, leaving it to roll on the ground. No blood came out, but I didn't dare to touch the head.

"…You have done well, for a person with a sharp mind." the Shadow's voice rang out in the room, I don't know where it came from. "Even though I am strong against fire, it is also my weakness at the same time. …I will keep my promise."

"…I have not yet defeated you, have I?" I asked. "You…were too easy…"

"…Yes. I have not regenerated fully, but even now, you were too strong for me." the Shadow's voice said. "…Why is it that you hide your power?"

"…"

"…I see." the Shadow's voice said. "Whatever the reason. I do not think that you will be able to keep the secret."

I sighed. "Why does everybody say that now?"

The Shadow chuckled. "But it is the truth, and I have to say, that I am amazed that you show both of your best traits: speed and power. Being in that group certainly has benefited you, has it not?"

"…Just how do you know so much about me?"

"…Someone told me about you. She said told me things about someone that had resembled her. I know that she had meant you." the Shadow said.

"…Mother…"

"…"

"…I have been defeated, but I will come back." the Shadow promised. "I will come back in a different form and name…and from now on, you will encounter many Shadows that are stronger than me, and they will not be as kind. So be careful."

"…Thank you."

"And I have a 'present' for you." the Shadow said and a card appeared in front of me. "This is Surt, he is a good friend of mine. He has acknowledged you as his master."

"What do you mean?"

"…He will come whenever you summon him as a Persona." the Shadow told me. "He has learned the most powerful fire spell, so he will be useful to you."

"…Thank you, Surt and…"

"Call me Rampage Drive for now." Rampage Drive said. "But next time, I will not come with this name."

"Thank you, Rampage Drive."

"…You cannot move in this state. You have worn out your leg." Rampage Drive said. "I will teleport you back to the entrance."

"…But-"

"That is the least that I can do for you…and the person who had defeated me before." Rampage Drive said.

"…What exactly did the person who had defeated you before do for you?"

"…Thank you, and goodbye."

"Wh- Wait!"

But it was too late, I was already teleported back to the entrance, where everyone was still arguing about whether to go back and help. Yukari, who had already woken up and was watching the argument, was the first one that noticed me, and my severed leg.

"Minako!" Yukari shouted, catching the attention of the rest of the group.

"Hi." I said. "I'm finished." It's harder for me to catch my breath now. Oh no. Have I lost too much blood? No, I don't think so. I sat down, stabilizing my leg so the blood won't gush out as much.

"Minako! You're injured!"

Thank you for the obvious statement.

"We have to get you to a hospital!"

"Where's the nearest hospital?"

When everyone was still panicked and confused, I was the only one that had a collected and calm enough mind to say, "It's the Dark Hour. There's no hospital open."

…

"…Okay, I know where to go." I said, ripping off my other sleeve, taking off the cloth covering my leg and using the fresh cloth to wrap it up. "Can you just make sure that I don't lose that much blood?"

Yukari took out her Evoker and used Dia on my wound, it's not much, but it did make a little bit of the blood go back in my leg.

"Thank you, Yukari." I said, standing back up. "But it's quite a long way, it's at Port Island Station. So if you can cast a small Dia here and there-"

"…You mean that building you went to?" Akihiko cut in.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I need to go there anyway."

Akihiko stared at me for a while and proceeded to pick me up, bridal-style.

"Hey! Wait! Put me back down! I can still walk!" I shouted in surprise.

"You're going to lose more blood that way, you'll lose blood at a minimum level this way." Akihiko said, completely confused why I'm fighting back. "And anyways, I know the place, so we can get there quicker."

"…" I don't have anything to back me up, and he's saying the truth, this is the only way to not lose blood that much and get there at the same time. "Fine. But can you get there before the Dark Hour ends?"

"…Okay, I'll try to." And Akihiko walked out of Tartarus quickly, making Mitsuru, Yukari and Junpei trying to catch up with us.

When we reached the place filled with many coffins behind Port Island Station, I made Akihiko put me down. "Don't follow me in, go back with the group to the dorm and come back tomorrow night." I told Akihiko. He was about to argue until I glared at him, which made him walk reluctantly back to the group. I hobbled over to the building and opened the door. "Yo!" I called out in between pants.

"…Little Minako! What happened?"

"No time to…explain, can I…stay here…to rest…for a while?"

"Of course! Sleep first and we can treat your leg. We can talk later, just sleep for now."

I hobbled over to the couch and lied down, sighing gratefully that I still have enough energy to hobble over to the couch. I then slept until the next day.

**DLWolf: Hello again there! This isn't like my last story, right? About twenty chapters cover the whole year, but this story might need a couple more chapters to cover the whole year, so bear with me! And sorry if I didn't really give out that much detail in that battle scene, I'm still learning, so yeah, sorry!**

**Akihiko: Hey, DarknessLightWolf?**

**DLWolf: Yeah?**

**Akihiko: I don't understand why Minako didn't accept my offer to carry her back to that place.**

**DLWolf: …I did say to you to carry her, but it doesn't have to be bridal-style you know.**

**Akihiko: Bridal-style? O-Oh…now I understand.**

**DLWolf: *Sigh* Still the same clueless Akihiko.**

**Akihiko: Hey!  
**

**DLWolf: What? It's true. Ask any girl…or boy, and they'll tell you the same thing.**

**Akihiko: …Oh…**

**DLWolf: Anyways… Ryurieri, I hope this answers your question. LilLaoRyo704, thank you for reading, yes I liked that part too! BlazingFireAngelXXX, nah, Minato isn't the Great Seal, you'll find out later. Fan of Fanfics21, yes, the job of hacker out of the twins is Minato, and it is better so that he can pwn :). ledah13, it's a good thing it's not the same one, the story is not going to be overrun by OCs but there are some mentions of them. Soulswallows, I have the power of the author in this story, I will be able to put MinaYuka here, just read :) the family eye color is very important to the story, you will see later. Thanks everyone!**

**Akihiko: …**

**DLWolf: Don't worry, you'll get better at getting girls. Why not one of your fangirls?**

**Akihiko: …I don't like them.**

**DLWolf: Ooh, harsh. Well anyways, thank you all for the reviews, favorites and alerts! Please keep on R&R, but no insults please! Thank you! Until we meet again!**


	4. Chapter 4 Killed

"Tea." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He set down the cup of tea on the table beside the couch.

"…Thank you." I said weakly, taking the cup to my lips and drinking the warm tea.

He pulled a chair and sat beside me. Then, he sighed. "You really frightened me back then. I guess what they said was true."

"I'm supposed to frighten people." I said back. "And I'm fine anyway. You know that as well as I do."

"I know." he said back, I glared curiously at him. "Look, I just don't want you to die in a month. It's my job as head branch, and your older cousin, to keep you safe."

I laughed hoarsely. "You know as well as I do that I can't die. You saw me once, back then. I can't die, no matter how hard they try to kill me."

"…True." he sighed and glared at me. "But, that doesn't change the fact that I gave my promise already. I have to protect you, you know that?"

I laughed again. "Then I'm just grateful that Hiro wasn't here instead of you. I don't want to know what he'll do."

He laughed. "You don't want to see him when he's panicking. And I'm more adept at handling severe wounds than he is."

I looked over to my well-bandaged leg. It was fresh. "Thanks."

He laughed. "It's my job as head. Now tell me what happened."

"…It might have met Mother before she died."

"…It might have met your mother?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "So you were fighting that person to find out about your mother?"

"…It was to defend her honor…or someone like me." I shook my head. "I don't know, the person didn't described that well, parts of its memories were lost."

"…Minako." he shook his head. "You know that your mother and father died, right? You can't bring them back. I'm sorry."

"…"

"…They were the best teachers I could have ever gotten." he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "And I know you think that as well, but it's the past. I don't blame you if you want to find out more about your mother and father, but you can't bring them back, you must always remember that."

"…I understand."

"I'm sorry, Little Minako." he shook his head. "So, your friends are going to come and visit you, right?"

"…Yeah. Is that okay with you?"

"Fine with me." he took my empty cup and went to the sink. "You haven't told them yet, have you? You're not going to tell them?"

"…I want to keep it a secret for as long as I can."

"…Fine with me. Hiro and Yaku's out. So it's only going to be me."

"Okay then." I sighed and went back to sleep.

…

"Wake up, Little Minako. They're here."

I rolled over and saw the many S.E.E.S members with worried looks. I sighed and sat upright. "…This is Rekka, my cousin."

"…"

"…I'm fine." I sighed again. "I just need to let my leg rest for a while."

"…"

"…" Rekka walked into another room, leaving me alone with S.E.E.S.

"You defeated that Shadow?" Mitsuru asked, concerned. 

I nodded. 

"Alone?"

I nodded again.

"But how? And why did you want to defeat the Shadow alone?" Mitsuru demanded. "And how did that Shadow talk?"

"…The third question, I don't know."

"The first and second?"

"The first…I have trained. And prepared myself for an enemy with those traits." I answered. "The second…I don't do well in groups, sorry Junpei and Yukari, but that's the truth."

"…You knew enemies of those kind would come?"

"…I just prepared myself for the worst." I shrugged. "I didn't really know if they would come."

"…We have prepared a room for you in the hospital." Mitsuru said. "We need to get you treated."

I shook my head. "I told you before, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a while." I stared at the worried S.E.E.S members. "…But for a while, I'll stay here until I get better. Can you make up a reason for me to skip school for a while?"

I knew it was the wrong thing to ask from Mitsuru, but I wonder what my classmates would think if I come in with a bandaged leg.

"…Fine. But just this once." Mitsuru finally said and sighed.

I stared at Junpei and Yukari, who were extremely worried. "How did you four get here without getting through those punks?" I asked curiously.

"…"

"…Your cousin." Junpei finally spoke.

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "My cousin? You mean Rekka? What'd he do?"

"…"

"…Okay, I understand." I said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "…Don't you have school tomorrow?" I asked.

"Right." Mitsuru said, standing up and bowing to me. "I'm sorry that we cannot do anymore the last time.

"And I was knocked out, so I couldn't do anything to help you…" Yukari's voice trailed off, feeling guilty about the situation.

"It's okay, Yukari, Mitsuru-senpai." I answered. "I was the one that had sent off Junpei and Yukari. It's no problem. And thank you, Mitsuru-senpai, for getting a reason for me to skip school for a while."

"…And thank your cousin too, Arisato." Mitsuru said and was about to walk away.

"Wait! Mitsuru-senpai! Come here for a while." I said, giving the sign for her to come. "Next time, be sure to visit. Hiro lives here as well." I whispered.

Mitsuru's face turned red, but the blush instantly passed once she faced the confused S.E.E.S. She then strutted out the building with S.E.E.S following her.

"Ooh." Rekka gave a low whistle as he came back to the room. "So that's Hiro's girlfriend? I never knew he was that good. Never thought he'll be able to get her though."

"Yeah, that's why it shocks me as well." I said. "Mitsuru-senpai is the 'Queen' in school, figuratively and literally."

"Oh, I see…" Rekka said. "Never thought that she was Hiro's type though."

"Eh? Really?" I laughed. "Yeah, he looked like a person who would date a middle-schooler."

"I have to agree with you there." Rekka admitted. "But I don't know what he sees in that Mitsuru."

"Oh, have I told you that Mitsuru was the heir of the Kirijo group?"

"Really?" Rekka gave another low whistle. "No wonder. She seemed like a very _bossy_ person."

"_Bossy _indeed." I laughed. "But she's a good person, but she might be quite hard to befriend, since only a genius can understand what she mostly talks about."

"I can guess from how worried she seemed when she came in here." Rekka said. "She was _rushing_ to meet you."

"…I think I understand." I said. "I'm going back to sleep. Good night! I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

…

"Little Minako!" Rekka called out. "Hiro and Yaku are back!"

I yawned and sat upright. I looked at the clock that was ticking away on the wall. It was after school already. "That was fast! But that's good as well then, more payment, right?"

Yaku grinned. "Yup! And I heard from Rekka about your leg! Hurt that much?"

I shook my head. "Not as bad as last time."

"Got a time off too, didn't you?" Hiro asked, messing with my hair. "Slacker!"

"Hey!" I said playfully. "I needed to talk to you three about this branch anyway."

"…You didn't do your research did you?" Rekka asked, staring at me with a bored look.

"Hey! I was busy trying to get away from my 'aunt' just to get to the branch there!" I said in defense. "You think I had enough time to research?"

"Oh yeah, how was it this time?" Hiro asked with a curious look. "Was it better or worse?"

"Eh…I'll say in the middle." I answered. "She's not as evil as the one before, but still."

Hiro shook his head. "I didn't mean that! I meant how much 'damage' did she get from you this time? Did she go to the hospital?"

"Well…" I said. "I did crush her arm…so probably so. But it's not as bad as the one before."

"How bad was the one before?"

"Crushed his…" I started, then stared at the boys. "You don't want to know."

"Why?"

"It was his…" my voice trailed off.

The boys took the hint and began trying to imagine the poor man. "Hey." I said in defense. "At least he didn't die!"

"…Of course." Yaku said and grimaced at the picture that had appeared in his mind. "But getting his…crushed, is almost the same as dying."

"…"

"…Never mind what I said…" Now, I feel plain guilty. "And thanks for the 'good-luck' charm."

"You used it?" Yaku asked, widening his eyes in worry.

"Yeah, it broke though." I said as I pulled out the broken-in-half 'good-luck' charm. "Sorry."

"…What did you fight?" Yaku asked as he examined the broken 'good-luck' charm.

"Something that can resist physical attacks." I shrugged. "Your 'good-luck' charm worked though. Just need to melt the armor and use that, that was it."

"…If you say so." Yaku said, pocketing the broken 'good-luck' charm. "Do you want me to repair this?"

"Yes, thank you." I said and Yaku went into another room. A few seconds later, I could hear hammerings coming out from the room. Rekka closed the door to prevent the noise from coming.

"…_Minako."_

Oh, so Minato's back. I wonder what he was doing. 

"_Are you okay?"_

Oh, so he does care for me. 

I glared at him. I hope he got the message that I am okay. I don't think he got it, since he kept on observing the group.

"Eight more days." Hiro offered. "You want any help?"

"Nah, this is my job." I declined, and drank the tea that Rekka gave me. "You're already busy anyways, the branch is almost always empty."

"…True."

"Can I see the reports for the year?" I asked, reaching my hand out.

Hiro gave a low whistle. What, now everyone does that? "Already getting into research mode! Now that's our Little Minako!" he said and gave me the huge pile of folders. I grimaced at the look of the folders and glared at him. "Hey, you missed a lot of things over the ten years." he said as he drank his coffee. "It's not my fault if you have to read them all. Knowing you, you'll probably take up a year or so."

"…Fine." I said, pushing away the folders. "You want to brief me orally instead?"

"…Lazy as ever." Hiro muttered.

I groaned. "Oh come on! I'm tired!"

"Fine. Just this once." Rekka said as he came over to sit. Hiro grabbed a chair and sat as well. "We have a 50% increase in jobs over the past five years."

"So that's 25% of our original clients back?" I asked and sighed. "It was my fault that we lost the original 50%."

"Hey, you can't help it. And it's not your fault." Rekka said and I sighed again. "And the rules said so, if the former-"

"Hey!" Yaku shouted from the other room. "How's the New York branch?"

"Getting better as well!" I shouted back. "They got a 70% increase! …I think I understand, this place was where they-"

"Come on, Little Minako!" Hiro cried out. "It's not your fault, it never was!"

I sighed. "Stupid rules."

"Hey, look at the bright side." Hiro pointed out. "At least you were better than all of us when you were six!"

I laughed. "Fine, you got me there." I looked over at the pile of folders. "Can you give me the folders of the jobs only? I need to review them."

Hiro picked up some folders on top of the 'folder mountain' and gave them to me. "That's for the past three years until now."

I groaned. "Thank you very much!" I began reading the papers that were laid out in front of me.

A beeping sound was heard from the computer a second later. "Hm?" Rekka said as he examined the computer. "Hiro, get going! Paulownia Mall! Guy with a crooked nose! Hospitalize!"

Hiro grinned and stood up, looking very energetic. "How many minutes?"

"Twenty-five!"

"Challenge! Time me!" Hiro said as he ran out the building.

"Twenty-five minutes?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "They really have put a lot of trust in you three."

"…Hey, you got a week off." Rekka said as he turned on the timer on his watch. "…You're going to stay here for a whole week and read those papers?"

I tossed the papers aside. "Yeah, I'm bored. I need to meet some of those clients."

"…Your leg."

"It's fine, it's not bleeding that much anymore." I said, moving my leg around. "I can handle it, but if it gets too severe, we can come back."

"…Fine. Hey Yaku!" Rekka shouted. "You're in charge!"

"Fine with me!" Yaku shouted back. "Hey, get me Koromaru, will you? It gets lonely here sometimes."

"Okay!" I shouted back. I followed Rekka out the building.

"…Why did you come at midnight two days ago?" Rekka asked.

"If I come before or after midnight, what do you think you'll say?"

"…Good point." Rekka sighed. "But you know, you did made us worry."

"…I shouldn't be worrying all of you, but I guess it can't be helped." I shrugged. "And who are we going to be visiting?"

"Our usual client." Rekka said. "She might not look like it, but she asks for us most of the time. I don't know what's bothering her though."

"So the one that requested earlier-"

"Yeah, that's her."

"…Oh. So what does she look like?"

"A lady." Rekka said. "She's not retired, still working. She said that she has a daughter about your age."

"…"

"…_She might be mentally unstable, or heart broken, if a lady with a daughter your age asked for the branch multiple times."_

I nodded. "So what does she normally ask for?"

"Some guys." Rekka shrugged. "But she might have a connection with them, but I'm not sure."

"Do you agree?"

"I never agree." Rekka said. "But half looks reasonable enough, half don't look reasonable enough." Rekka sighed.

"I can imagine." I sighed as well.

We walked to a pink house. Pink. From roof to walls, all pink. Minato and I grimaced. Rekka didn't look at all that affected, but that must have meant that he was quite accustomed to the look of the house. He knocked on the door and a lady with short, brown hair, who looks a lot like _somebody I know_, opened the door and led Rekka and me, and unknowingly Minato, in the pink nightmare of a house. Once inside, we found Hiro already sitting on a chair.

"So." Hiro said. "How many minutes?"

Rekka glanced at his watch. "Twenty-four."

Hiro frowned. "Aw."

"Hey, you're getting better." I praised.

"Oh, are you their friends?" the lady finally said. Then she looked away when she saw me, looking guilty.

I raised an eyebrow, amused. "Are you Yukari Takeba-san's mother?"

The lady looked shocked. "Yukari? My daughter?"

I knew it.

"You know my daughter?" Yukari's mother asked, now she looked distraught. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Tell me where she is!"

"…Yes, I know your daughter." I said. "But it seems as if she doesn't want to meet you, I'm sorry, not just yet. And I can't make her see you if she doesn't want to."

She was about to argue, but she shook her head and sat down, a few tears running down her cheek. "I'm sorry." She wiped away her tears. "And you are…?"

"My name is Minako Arisato." I answered.

"…Oh! Arisato?" She asked, shocked.

It's a wonder how rumors get around so fast around here.

"Yes, I'm their cousin." I nodded.

"…Well, Minako-san." Yukari's mother said, her voice trembling. "Can you please look after my daughter? She might look like she's strong, but I'm sure she's feeling the same way as me. And someday…I want to meet her again…and she how much she's grown."

I nodded.

What the? Everything froze? A tarot card?

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Lovers Arcana.

Everything went back to normal and the card disappeared. Is this what Igor was talking about Social Links? Hm…interesting.

"…_You were talking about Yukari before. Maybe it has something to do with Yukari."_

Minato could be right. It might be because of Yukari. I'll have to talk to Yukari later then.

We then heard a snore coming from Hiro.

"Hiro! Wake up!" Rekka shouted at him, slapping his head. Hiro woke up instantly. "Are you done? We have to go back and pick up Koromaru."

"Oh! I almost forgot." Yukari's mother searched her bag and pulled out a 100,000 yen note and gave it to Hiro. "Your payment. And thank you once again!"

"…Takeba-san." Hiro said, rubbing the spot where Rekka had hit him. "You will have to learn to be independent. We cannot end your problems by-"

"I know." Yukari's mother said, looking guilty. "That must be the reason why Yukari hates me so much. But anyways, thank you."

"…" We walked out of the house and went to the shrine. I heard a happy bark and Koromaru ran out and licked Rekka's face.

"Come on, Koromaru!" Rekka shouted. "Yaku's feeling lonely."

Koromaru barked happily and ran towards the branch with great speed. Rekka's phone beeped and he read the text message. "Hiro, you got another job. Go and do it. Hospitalize. Iwatodai Strip Mall. Guy with a suit. Thirty minutes."

"Fine with me!" He shouted and dashed off.

"All hospitalize?" I asked curiously. "No-"

"Truth be told, all of their reasons are unreasonable." Rekka told me. "But we don't do requests that are very unreasonable."

"…Are we going to visit another client?"

Rekka sighed. "I don't particularly like this client that much, but he is an important figure, so I can't mess around with him. But we should visit him anyways, you'll meet him sooner or later."

We walked over to the Paulownia Mall. "Oh! Rekka-kun!" A man with a suit called out when we approached him.

"…Tanaka-san." Rekka muttered quietly.

"Oh, so you brought a friend with you." Tanaka said. "You are lucky to meet me in person." he said to me. "Would you like an autograph?" 

I don't even recognize him. Who the hell is he?

"…Tanaka-san." Rekka cut in. "She's not from around here. She came from New York. And she doesn't watch TV."

"…I see." Tanaka said with a slight disgust. "Well then, young lady, I suggest you watch my TV program, I am a star!"

If you were, I would have recognized you by now.

"Anyways, enough about me." Tanaka sighed in relief, and grinned creepily. "Now how about investing in my program? I am sure to make you a millionaire! No, a billionaire! No, a trillio-"

"I'm sorry, Tanaka-san." I lied. "But I don't have enough money."

"Oh…" Tanaka said, disappointed. Then he grinned a second later. "Well, if you got the money, be sure to invest it in my program!"

I half-heartedly chuckled and Hiro came running towards us. "So! How many minutes?" he panted.

"28 minutes and 30 seconds." Rekka said as he checked his watch. "Getting better."

Hiro grinned. "Good! Tanaka-san! I finished!"

Tanaka grinned, and frowned a second later. "Here is your payment. 150,000 yen." he spat as he pulled out the notes from his leather wallet. Hiro took it and pocketed the notes.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"_Two very interesting clients. No wonder they have unreasonable reasons."_

And what's that supposed to mean?

We walked back to the direction of the branch. It was already nighttime, no wonder the punks are here already, waiting for a victim to come. I don't think they saw me though, since I was right behind Hiro and Rekka.

"EEEEEEEEEEEK! IT'S HIIIIIIIIM!"

So much for the macho-looking punk.

The gang ran away like girls, even I don't run away like that. I stared at Hiro and Rekka in curiosity.

"Don't ask."

I didn't. I don't want to imagine their tortured faces.

"Yo! Yaku!"

Koromaru stood up and barked happily. He then proceeded to run towards us and began to lick our faces in delight. "Hey boy, where's Yaku?" Hiro asked. Koromaru looked at the direction where Yaku was last at, but there was no response from Yaku. "He must be sleeping." Hiro said as he walked over to the chair.

Koromaru growled, ears pricking up.

"Wait." I commanded. "Rekka, cameras."

Rekka nodded and opened the computer. He switched to the camera scenes. "Yaku!" he shouted and ran to where Yaku was at. Hiro, Koromaru and I followed him to the room.

"…Go away." Yaku muttered as he threw a spiked boomerang at an uninvited guest, who was clinging on a corner of the ceiling. The uninvited guest dodged, but the boomerang scratched the surface of the guest's face. The boomerang went back to Yaku's bleeding hand. The spikes on the boomerang scratched Yaku's hand, making his hand bleed even further.

"…" The uninvited guest stared at me. I glared back.

Hiro took out a dart and threw it at the uninvited visitor's arm, making him paralyzed.

I threw and spun the deadly 'good-luck' charm with great speed and power at the guest.

The guest, unable to move, let out a small cry.

But it didn't do the guest any good.

The guest's head got sliced clean off, blood dripping from both his neck and head.

The 'good-luck' charm fell down on the floor.

The guest's body went limp and fell down on the ground. Rekka took the guest's head and stared at it in disgust. "It's one of _them_." He muttered and let the guest's head drop to the ground with a thud.

I sighed. "Again? This was the thirtieth time this year."

Hiro's eyes went wide. "Thirtieth? As in thirty?"

I glared at the guest's sliced head. "Yeah._ They're_ growing in numbers, and _they_ don't care about the ones that they sacrifice. Ungrateful…"

"…_Check the person's body. There's something that's not right here…"_

I took Minato's advice and checked the pockets of the guest's suit. Yup, he was correct. "Yaku. Trace this recorder." I said, turning off the camera. Then I threw the camera to him. "_They_ know I'm here now. That's why _they_ sacrifice him…he's a newbie. He's still weak, _they_ probably meant to kill him in one way or another…"

"So _they're_ going to come after you again, sooner or later."

"…Can you clean it up?" I asked, glaring at the head again. "I have to get back to the dorm. …If _they're_ going to target me, then I'm sure _they're _going to get rid of S.E.E.S, they're a nuisance to_ them_. I need to protect S.E.E.S until they get better. …Hiro will come with me, is that okay?"

"…Sure." Rekka nodded. "Two is better than one, anyways. Yaku and me will be okay here. Just be careful."

I nodded back. "Thanks." I glared at Hiro. "Pack up, you're going to stay where your girlfriend stays."

Hiro sprinted off and packed his stuff. He came back when the rest of us were already waiting for him near the entrance. Yaku had already bandaged his bloody hand. He had also retrieved the used-and-repaired 'good-luck' charm and had given it back to me.

Rekka had prepared a small, covered bottle filled with liquid and tossed it at Hiro, who carefully took it, careful not to let it crash to the ground. I put on my contact lenses. Then we walked out of the building and walked towards the dorm.

I flicked open my phone and dialed Mitsuru's number. Fortunately, I got Mitsuru's number since Mitsuru insisted to exchange each other's numbers in case something like this happened. "Mitsuru-senpai." I said as soon as she picked up. "Someone wants to talk to you."

Hiro turned red. He should have seen himself in a mirror. Sorry Hiro. I gave him the phone and he began to tell her that he was going to stay at the dorm for a while and I'm coming back to the dorm as well. I thought I could hear Mitsuru scream "EXECUTION" from the phone there-

-Wait, is that ice coming out from my phone?

I don't care what she does to Hiro as long as she doesn't break my phone in any way!

"…Here, your phone." Hiro said with no expressions. I took back my phone and carefully put it back into my pocket.

"…I don't want to know what she's going to do, is it?"

"Yes, you do not want to know."

Oh, is Mitsuru that embarrassed to have Hiro stay over? I knew from the start that it wasn't a good idea. Oh well, what's done is done.

"Hey! I'm back!" I called out when I opened the front door of the dorm. "My cousin, Hiro, or Mitsuru-senpai's boyfriend, will be staying here for a while because of family problems."

Hiro nervously stared out at the group who was glaring at him, probably they have been briefed by Mitsuru from her side of the story, whatever side that is, but I doubt it's a good side.

"…I am going to sleep." I said shortly. "Mitsuru-senpai, it would be better if you'd show my cousin around. Thanks!" and I marched to my room without looking back. If I did, Mitsuru would probably kill me.

I locked the door as soon as I got in and flicked open my phone. "Minato."

"_How are you? Are you okay?"_

"As you can see before, yes I am okay." I said. "I thought you got the message before?"

"…_Maybe. …So how about the clients?"_

"…As you have said before, they look interesting." I replied. "Very interesting."

"…_You do not want to research your target further? Are you sure you're doing the right thing?"_

"I don't know. I'm not sure. I never am." I grinned. "But I have to take the risk, every now and then. Just like my whole life."

"…_Our mother."_

"You mean my mother?" I said with a bit of sarcasm. "…That Shadow might really have met my mother before she died in the 'accidental' car crash."

"…_Minako. I'm your twin brother."_

"I don't know if you really are!" I shouted at him. "You're just a ghost that I met that claims to be my dead twin brother!"

"…_Ten years ago. You killed. When you were only six."_

"…! How did you-"

"_I know because I have always been watching you, even without a physical body." _Minato said as he reached out his hand to air-pat my head. _"I know your deepest secrets. What 'group' you are in…what your target is…what your goal is…and…your resolution…"_

"…If everything that you said was true." I said slowly. "Then I will acknowledge you as my twin brother…but are you really dead?"

"_I have told you this before, I am not dead." _He said calmly. _"…You'll find out what I mean, sooner or later."_

"…I would prefer it sooner."

He chuckled. _"Be patient Minako. Don't worry, it won't be that long."_

"…Fine then." I said. "Good night."

He nodded and left me alone for the night. I sighed and slept until the next day. It was May 3, 2009 the next day.

**DLWolf: Okay, I'm just going to leave it at that. Can you guess what group Minako is in? I'll reveal it in 2-3 chapters later, but if you can guess correctly before then, then I'll make an extra chapter! I'll make one character, that the winner chooses, do something that the winner wants! It includes: dressing-up, truth/dares, mind-controlling, and others!**

**All: …**

**DLWolf: Good job everybody! Go home for today!**

**All: …Go to hell.**

**DLWolf: …I can make all of you disappear by typing less than ten words. You want that?**

**All: *Runs away***

**DLWolf: Nyehehehehe. Yes, I have that kind of power. I am the author.**

**Ryoji: …**

**DLWolf: Hey Ryoji! Long time no see! Do the disclaimers please!**

**Ryoji: Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. …May I have some cookies?**

**DLWolf: …Later, when you actually do something in the story. It'll probably be ten or more chapters later. Be patient.**

**Ryoji: I hate you.**

**DLWolf: Fine with me. Okay, Traisa, the reason why I didn't make Minako put back her contacts was because she didn't have time to, and S.E.E.S didn't notice it anyways, since they were too occupied by worrying about Minako's severed leg. At this point, the twisted plot will continue, try and guess everyone!**

**Minako: …I'll give out a hint: it has something to do with my family and my past.**

**DLWolf: …Fine, you can only give out that one hint. …Anyways…please review this chapter, readers! No insults please! Thanks for reading everyone! See you later, readers!**


	5. Chapter 5 Offer

I knew it.

The moment I stepped into the school, all eyes were looking at me, my bandaged leg, specifically.

I hate being famous. Or infamous.

I get mixed up between those two. Half of them call me famous, the other half calls me infamous. I don't know where I lie myself though.

I sighed and walked in the classroom. The bustling classroom suddenly turned eerily silent when I stepped in. I sighed again and walked over to my seat, slipped my headphones on, put my hands around my head, and slept until Toriumi came in to take the roll call. Once she finished, I slept again until school ended, almost missing lunch, fortunately, I didn't. Damn, why did Mitsuru have to force me to go to school even if I came back to the dorm? I hate it when people stare at me for hours and rumoring about it, reminds me why I got headphones. I was about to go back to the dorm only to find Hiro waiting for me at the school gates.

"Yo, Minako." Hiro greeted. "Yaku says he wants to meet with us after school. We should get going, it seems quite important."

"Are you sure you're not just waiting for Mitsuru?" I asked innocently. While Hiro was still frozen in place with a red face, I went ahead to the branch, with Hiro running behind me to catch up. We went in the building and was greeted by Yaku.

"Hey! One day no see!" Yaku shouted. "Hey Little Minako! Do you have 'that'?"

I took what he wanted out my schoolbag and tossed it to him. "Why do you want it?"

"Just making a replica of it, just in case." Yaku said. "Don't worry, you'll get it back in three days."

I raised an eyebrow. "You can make a replica of that in three days?"

"Hey, you're talking to a master craftsman here." Yaku shouted as he walked in another room. "You can go now! That's all that I wanted to ask you of for now! Come back in three days! Don't forget that!"

"Okay! Fine with me!" I shouted back and walked back to the dorm with Hiro. It was evening when I came back. Time flies so fast.

…

I take back that last sentence.

…

The next three days were too boring to even start to describe. We didn't go to Tartarus, maybe S.E.E.S did and leaving me out, since of my severed leg that I have to take care of. And school wasn't getting that better anyways, everybody kept staring at me. I don't care that much, but at least the teachers did, because the students weren't paying attention. And now the principal called me to his office. I wonder why.

"Hello, Minako-chan." the old principal of the school said.

I grinned, no one can hate this old and gentle-looking principal. "Hello."

The principal smiled. "I guess you know why you've been called in?"

I sighed. "I guess so. I'm sorry that I didn't come a few days ago! I was sick, I'm sorry!"

"That's not it, Minako-chan." the principal said gently. "I am worried about the condition of your leg. How did you receive that injury?"

I knew it. This was what he was trying to find out. And if he knew that he was correct, I would be kicked out off the school. I'm not going to have that.

"Oh, I was cooking the other day, and the knife had cut my leg accidentally." I said, looking away with pretend guilt. "I'm sorry if I was worrying you."

"Oh no, it's okay." the principal muttered. "I thought it was something else…"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the person like what the students have rumored about!" I lied with sudden ferocity that had shocked the principal. "I'm just a normal girl who has lost her parents and came here to study!"

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, Minako-chan." The principal said. "It was wrong of me to judge you that way. I'm sorry. Please go back to your classroom."

I walked out of the principal's office and went back to my classroom. I walked back to my seat and slept for the whole day as well.

After school, I met up with Hiro again and walked back to the branch. I sat on the swivel chair and faced the two.

"Hey, Little Minako!" Rekka shouted as he came back from the other room with the item that he had borrowed from me three days ago. He tossed it to me. "Here you go! Yaku finished it yesterday, so the replica's set and ready to go if needed. I sure hope it isn't."

I gently placed the item in my bag. "Me too. But if it does come, then I guess we can't avoid it. I'm sure it'll come though."

Hiro gasped and pointed a finger at me. "Don't jinx it!"

I sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder why you're so childish even if you're a genius." I muttered, I swiveled my chair so that my back would face Hiro and Rekka. "And then I think of how impossible it is to have Mitsuru-senpai as your girlfriend. …And I'm hoping that this isn't reality…" I shook my head.

"…" Hiro and Rekka stared at me. "You're cruel, Little Minako."

I swiveled my chair again to face them. " I thought I'm supposed to be cruel." I looked around the room. "Yaku's on a request?"

Rekka nodded. "For a days now…" he whispered. "I hope that nothing bad happens to him…"

Just a second after Rekka had said that, the door swung open. 

"Hey…"

"What the-WHAT THE FUCK? YAKU! YAKU!"

…

"…DAMN IT! WHAT THE FUCK? WHY NOW?"

"…It's not your fault."

"IT IS! NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT THE PROBLEM, IT IS MY FAULT!"

"…"

"…I'm sorry, but I can't drag anyone else into this any longer, not even any of you. This is my fault, and I'm going to fix it."

"Wait-"

"Tell everyone to wait for two days. Tell them that I'm going to be away, visiting my relatives. Take care of them for me."

"…"

…

"Hello?"

"It's me. I'll take up your offer."

**DLWolf: Nyehehehehehe, me and my love of cliffhangers. Oh well, I guess that can't be helped. And sorry for the lack of writing here! I just really wanted to make a cliffhanger. And thanks for all the favorites, alerts, and reviews! I really appreciate it, and I hope I'm not making my OCs picture-perfect, I'm trying hard not to, like most encounters with death…**

**Yaku: …**

**DLWolf: Oh hey there, master craftsman! I thought you were supposed to be dead! …Or half-dead… or…**

**Yaku: …Don't make this any worse that it actually is.**

**DLWolf: …Fine. But do the disclaimers, since you might die the next chapter, which would result you in not coming ever again, I haven't decided yet though.**

**Yaku: Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it.**

**DLWolf: Thank you very much, Yaku. I made up my mind, you're going to die later.**

**Yaku: *Picks up deadly boomerangs* …You said something?**

**DLWolf: N-NO! Nothing! Just kidding! Anyways, fly7angel, I can't play Trauma Team since I don't have a Wii, but I did play Trauma Center :), although it's not the same thing, so yeah. ledah13, it's okay, but this story is going to get bloody in the upcoming chapters, not yet though, it'll get better later :). **

**Yaku: …Are you going to add me with blood?**

**DLWolf: Yes, and that's unavoidable since I'm going to write it no matter what you do. Anyways, please keep on reviewing, no insults please! I really appreciate the reviews! And thanks for reading this! Until we meet again!**


	6. Chapter 6 Power

…

"Hello?"

"It's me. I'll take up your offer."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Please make sure it arrives in two days. …And thank you for those information."

"Of course. Be careful then." 

"Thanks. You too."

I closed my phone and adjusted myself to speak Japanese after speaking English. "I know that you know this as well, Minato, but I have got to say: I just love to abuse my power."

"_Can't be helped, now can it? Then it doesn't matter if you do an overkill, right?"_

"…You truly are my twin brother."

"_Thank you."_

"…But _they're_ asking for it." I glared at the pictures of Yaku's engraved chest. "…This has gone too far. …This is personal. …And I was willing to let _them_ go too…"

"_They missed their chance."_

"_They_ certainly have." I took a sip from my cup of tea. "And _they_ certainly have underestimated me."

"_Where are you going now?"_

"…I'll go 'visit' my room. I have to sleep somewhere." I said, pulling out my 'good-luck' charm. "If I remember correctly, then there's supposed to be a window I can go up to…"

I landed on the ground and walked towards the dorm, careful not to let anyone see me. I climbed up the building, unlocked the window, opened the window, and went in without a sound. I closed the window and made sure that I locked the door. I lied down on my bed and slept.

…

I woke up during the Dark Hour. It was normal for me to wake up during the Dark Hour, but that's usually because I needed to drink, not because someone, or something, is urging me to wake up. I scanned the room and saw Minato talking with the blue-haired boy with prison clothes that had greeted me a month ago.

"…So that's why…" the boy muttered.

"_Minako."_

The boy turned around and saw me awake. "Minako! Your Mask of-"

"_Pharos." _Minato said with a death tone.

"…" the boy turned quiet all of the sudden. I stared at the two.

"What Mask?" I asked. I have a Mask?

"…So she doesn't remember?" the boy asked Minato, ignoring my question and me.

"…_No."_

"Wait a minute, you can see Minato?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Are you a ghost as well? So is that the reason you're able to come in?"

"…" the boy said, downcast. "I am always with you."

What?

"…My name is Pharos, and I'm always with you."

"…But why are you here now?" I asked.

"…Because I remembered about the End, and I thought that I should tell you."

"The End? …Hm…" I pretended to think about it.

"…So you know about it."

"…Of course I know about it." I said, crossing my arms. "Don't think that I have my connections for nothing."

"…Be careful, Minako." Pharos warned me. "Even if you have your connections, you are still not invincible."

"I understand that completely." I nodded. "…Now, I just need to know where _they_ are."

"…_Are you still doing the overkill?"_

He didn't have to ask. He'd know already. I didn't have to answer.

Even if I did answer?

Hell yeah.

…

It was a good thing that the camera that I, or Minato, hacked in was still out of order, or I would have been found out that I was staying at the dorm. I snuck out during the afternoon and crept up to the branch to confirm the location of the 'package' later. I looked from a window, overlooking the branch. Both Rekka and Hiro were in, but Yaku was nowhere to be found. It's no surprise after finding his condition like the day before. The two seemed to be having a conversation, so I opened the window and I could hear their conversation clearly.

"What are we going to do, Rekka?" Hiro asked, sitting on the swivel chair. "Knowing Little Minako, she's probably going to be avenging Yaku."

They sure do know me, all right.

"I'm worried, actually." Rekka said, staring at Hiro.

Hiro sighed. "Yeah, you're worried for everybody. And this is Little Minako we're talking about."

"…That's true." Rekka nodded. "But that still hasn't made my worry go away. …Especially after seeing the condition Yaku was at last night."

Hiro took out the duplicate pictures of Yaku's body. "…It's _them_. I'm impressed. _They _found out Yaku's weakness in a short time. _They're_ boasting about it too, that's why _they_ engraved it on his body."

"…'Near'… _They're_ challenging Little Minako." Rekka said.

Of course _they're_ challenging me. And I will make sure _they_ will pay.

Hiro's phone rang and he answered the call. "Yeah? …I see…" he closed the phone and slipped it in his pocket. "It was the New York branch. Apparently, Little Minako took up their offer."

Rekka sighed. "Now I'm worried for _them_ more than Little Minako. If she's planning for…an overkill…"

That is exactly what I'm planning.

"Well, the New York branch said the 'package' will arrive tomorrow in front of our branch." Hiro said. "If Little Minako is planning to do an overkill, then I just have to advise _them_ to be careful."

I don't need to hear anything else, at least I found out where the 'package' is going to be sent to. And it was a good thing that I found the phone number of the New York branch in the last package, or I won't be able to do the overkill. I closed the window and jumped off, running away to Paulownia Mall.

"…_You do know that Hiro and Rekka knew you were observing them from the start?"_

I flicked open my phone and put it to my ear. "Suspecting it, but they didn't show that they do know."

"_What are you going to do now? The 'package' is going to arrive tomorrow."_

"…I'll ask for their advice tomorrow, right after I get the 'package'. Now, I'll have to stock up for the full moon."

I closed my phone and slipped it back into my pocket. I went over to the pharmacy and bought some medicine. And after that, I went back to the dorm and slept.

…

Right after lunchtime, I went to the entrance of the branch and swiped the 'package'. I immediately went back to the dorm and gently placed the 'package' on my bed. I flicked open my phone and dialed a number. "Any advice?"

"I have a plan, but I can't force you to follow it. Choose now if you want to follow it."

"…You're a great strategist." I said. "I'll follow it."

"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. Once I tell you an instruction, you'll have to follow it immediately."

"I understand. Good night." I closed my phone and went to Hagakure for lunch.

…

Right on time, he called me.

"What's your plan?"

"Walk to Port Island Station. Walk, don't run."

I jumped out the room and walked towards the station.

"Once there, hide from the crowd."

I got there and hid behind Port Island Station.

"You'll have to stand out. Take off your contact lenses."

I'm getting his flow. I took off my contact lenses and went in the crowd. A lot of people saw my eyes, and distanced themselves from me. They were all watching my every step. "It's working." I reported. "What do you want me to do next?"

"Go to the counter of the station."

I walked slowly towards the counter. "Which ticket should I buy?"

"Reserve a ticket for the monorail. Reserve it for midnight."

"…For midnight? Are you sure?" I asked. It's a full moon tonight, after all.

"…Knowing you, you'll be able to do it, you have enough time after all."

I went to the counter and reserved a ticket for the monorail for midnight using my name, Minako Arisato.

"_They're_ following you ever since you got your contact lenses out. _They _must be." he informed me. "This will be a bet. Before you ride the monorail, put on your contact lenses. And once midnight strikes, set it up in the front car of the monorail."

"What about the other passengers?" I asked worriedly.

"I'm sure they won't take the same monorail as yours. Don't worry. But just be careful."

"…Fine. I hope your plan works." I said, closing my phone. I went back to the dorm and prepared myself. When evening came, I put on my contact lenses, took my 'package' and went in the monorail. At least he was right; no one was there except for myself. I think I know why _they _haven't attacked me yet though. _They're_ hijacking the monorail, _they're_ going to ambush me once I get off the monorail.

_11:59:58_

_11:59:59_

_00:00:00_

_Dark Hour_

Once the train stopped, I went inside the front car and set the 'package' up. I found some coffins inside, it must be _them. _So they did hijack the monorail, now I know where they are, and I can leave this for later. All I need to do now is to find the full moon Shadow.

Wait. Now what is that banging against the monorail?

I hid behind some crates in the front car. A big, shameless, Shadow materialized itself. It didn't seem to notice me yet, though. It must be the full moon Shadow. Wait. Why is the monorail moving?

"There it is!" Junpei shouted as he reached the front car.

I should have known. They were going after the full moon Shadow after all, they would have to come here.

"Stupei! Wait!" Yukari shouted at him.

The full moon Shadow noticed them and screeched. They attacked it, well at least Junpei attacked it, got hit, and Yukari always healed him. The full moon Shadow is obviously gaining the upper hand, laughing at the two's useless effort. It was a pitiful sight.

I couldn't take this anymore, I jumped out of hiding. "Yukari! Junpei!" I shouted at them. "Go to the back car! Run back! I'll take care of this!"

"What!" Junpei yelled back. "You just came out of nowhere and you tell me you want the action?"

I showed him the button that will control our life and death. "YOU WANT TO DIE AS WELL?"

"What the-" It took them seconds to realize it, but as soon as they did, Junpei staggered back. Yukari was already fleeing for her life and reached the back car. Junpei followed her as well.

I looked at the two's direction. "Hey. Is this called cheating?"

"_Nah. Don't think so. Even if it is, you'll still break the rule."_

"I like your way of thinking." I said, hitting the brakes beside me. The monorail stopped. The Shadow screeched in pain and I ran away before the Shadow got me.

I pushed the button.

Needless to say, the Shadow and _them_ died.

I got to the back car before the impact reached me.

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A FUCKING TNT?" Junpei yelled at me.

"…I have my ways."

"IT'S ILLEGAL! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND?"

If I am, then I would have been ten years ago.

"No, I certainly am not." I replied back. "But look at it this way: If I didn't detonate the TNT, what do you think would have happened to you and Yukari?"

"We would have been able to defeat it of course!"

"No, you two will have not." I said back. "That Shadow wasn't taking much of a damage from you, and Yukari was always healing you. Once Yukari runs out of SP and medicine, you two are doomed."

"So you could have helped us!"

"I DID!" I shouted. "I JUST DID! YOU'RE TRYING TO PIN THE BLAME ON ME WHEN I JUST SAVED YOU! Ungrateful…"

Junpei and Yukari flinched. "We're sorry…" they muttered.

I took the transceiver from Junpei's ear and put it on mine. "Mitsuru-senpai, the Shadow is obliterated."

"Arisato…"

I have a bad feeling about this. I took out the transceiver from my ear.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

I don't have any more courage to put the transceiver back in. "Visiting my relatives! The train was delayed for a day, so…" I half-shouted back at the transceiver.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE NOW?"

"I was riding back to the dorm!"

"…Are any of you injured?" Akihiko's voice said from the transceiver. I sighed and put the transceiver back to my ear.

"Junpei and Yukari look fine, only exhausted. They're not injured." I replied.

"You?"

"I'm fine."

"…Return back to the dorm, you three." Akihiko said with relief. "We can talk about this later."

The two sighed and went out the monorail first. I followed them until a tarot card appeared.

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana.

The Fool Arcana is now level 3.

"…Oh. I never noticed that it came. Maybe I ignored it." I muttered.

"_Yeah, you ignored it."_

"…" I didn't really care about time freezing up to now, but Igor did say that Social Links are important, I have to take notice of them from now on. "Next time, you have to inform me. You're my 'eyes'."

Minato nodded. I followed the two to the dorm and slept.

From that one night, I have got to say:

I just love to abuse my power.

**DLWolf: Okay! End chapter! Whew! I'm exhausted. So there are a few references to Fused Dimensions, when Pharos comes in. You'll understand on later chapters.**

**Minato: …**

**DLWolf: Oh hey Minato! You still like cookies?**

**Minato: Cookie!**

**DLWolf: Here you go, one cookie for one chapter.**

**Minato: …**

**DLWolf: …I'm not going to give you one whole cookie jar for one chapter! We had a deal! Remember?**

**Minato: …No.**

**DLWolf: Hm. Well, do the disclaimers and I'll give you another cookie.**

**Minato: Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. Now give me the cookies!**

**DLWolf: Here. It's so easy to bribe Minato, I wonder why… Oh well. Fan of Fanfics21, I will make a side-chapter explaining the reason how and why Hiro met Mitsuru, of all people, and I might get Mitsuru to break up with him, depends on my mood. Soulswallows, yes I will keep the OCs in check, they won't be come until after two-three chapters though, but I need the OCs to explain the story, so it's unavoidable, I'm only using them when I need to, there will be more Minato from now on, he's playing an important role in the story. CA184, I feel your pain (for homework), that's why I'm updating slow as well, not as fast as Fused Dimensions.**

**Minato: …An important role?  
**

**DLWolf: You're polite to wait for me to finish. Yes, I know you know you have an important role, don't act you don't know.**

**Minato: …Pay me more cookies.**

**DLWolf: …No.**

**Minato: *Runs away to secret cookie shed***

**DLWolf: Hey come back here! …Wait a minute, how did he know where the secret cookie shed is? Why didn't he go there in the first place?**

**Minako: Obviously, he doesn't want to die.**

**DLWolf: HE DOES NOW! …Wait, where did he go?**

**Minako: …Stupid.**

**DLWolf: …I'll catch him later. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts! Please R&R, no insults please! Thanks! See you later, readers!**


	7. Chapter 7 Avenger

Early the next morning, being afraid of Mitsuru's famous Execution and wanting to wait for her to let out some steam, I snuck out the dorm and went to the branch. I hope they'll be gentler, at least.

…

"The story made the front pages in one night! Look: Terrorist attacks monorail at midnight!" Rekka yelled at me as he threw the newspaper angrily on the table. "The media's even got a name for you: Midnight Assailant!"

Still a bad greeting, but a gentler one than Mitsuru's Execution. I hope.

"It fits her, if you ask me." Hiro commented.

I smirked. Win.

Rekka sighed. "Little Minako, I know you're angry, but you have to at least control your anger."

"Hey, you know I was listening that time, and you didn't stop me." I pointed out.

"That was because I didn't know that you were going to blow a monorail up!" Rekka said with a gentler voice. "I thought you were going to blow up their headquarters. You do know they have their headquarters here in the city, right?"

I stared at them with wide-eyes. "And why didn't you tell me that time?"

"You're not the only one who was spying on us that time." Rekka informed. "If you were able to spy on us, then others might have been able too."

"Hm. Then that's no reason to tell where the TNT will be, right?" I said with thought. "And if what you say is true, then I will have to hunt him or her down."

"You know the rules-"

"I know the rules, of course." I said back. "But hey, how come I don't get special treatment? And isn't that overwork?"

"Those rules are to stop getting you dead, Little Minako!" Rekka hissed with a strict tone.

"Hmm…" I said, amused. "Then how about you do it? I'll be your client, there's no rules about that, right?"

Rekka sighed. "Nope, guess not. …Fine then. So." he turned on the computer. "How many?"

"One month." I challenged. "Good enough?"

"Good enough for me. So, hospitalize or-"

"You know me well enough." I said. "Did you have to ask?"

Rekka smiled and walked towards the door.

"Oh yeah, I got a request." I said, stopping Rekka in his tracks. "Use the media's name for me, will you? Makes things easier, and I don't need that name for now."

Rekka nodded, walking out the branch. "You're in charge for the while, Hiro."

"Sure!" Hiro called out and Rekka closed the door. "Nyehehehehe."

I glared at him. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well-"

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked. I know exactly what you're thinking." I said. "And no, you can't do it."

"What- You don't even know what I-"

"You can't bring over Mitsuru-senpai, or any other girl you're cheating with, when I'm not here." I said sharply. "And anyways, Mitsuru-senpai knows better than to accept an offer from a pervert like you. Speaking of Mitsuru-senpai…"

"…What?" Hiro said with an expressionless tone and face.

"I just remembered. I have to get back." I said, walking to the door. "You want to come and see your girlfriend do an Execution?"

Hiro paled. "…I'd rather not. …Good luck."

Was it really that bad?

"…Thank you very much." I replied slowly back. I reluctantly stepped out of the building and snuck my way back in the dorm.

As soon as I climbed in the room through the window, there was a knock on my door. I figured it was Yukari, so I ignored it and went to close my window slowly.

"Arisato? We need to speak with you."

OH SHIT! WHAT HAVE I DONE? …I see ice in coming out of the door's keyhole. This is not good…

"Coming Mitsuru-senpai!" I scrambled to the icy door in record time without showing any exhaustion. "Yes?"

Mitsuru glared at me with piercing, cold eyes. "Come with me, Arisato, the others are waiting."

I mentally sighed and followed her to the lounge, where everyone, including Ikutsuki, were waiting for me. Mitsuru and I took a seat. Mitsuru seems to be trying hard not to pounce at me and do her Execution though.

"Minako." Ikutsuki started. Thank God he's here, he's the only thing-person that's keeping Mitsuru from Executing me! "We were all worried about you. What have you been doing?"

"Well, I was visiting my relatives." I said innocently.

No one bought it, of course. But they didn't press the matter any further.

"Where did you get the explosive from?" Junpei asked.

"My relative gave it to me as a 'gift'." I answered. It was true.

"…"

"Oh! It's a Sunday!" I exclaimed, breaking the cold aura (mostly given off by Mitsuru) in the room. "Yukari-chan, do you want to go to the florist?" It has been a while since I was this cheery, but I guess the aura around here needs the cheery atmosphere.

"S-Sure!" Yukari said, running upstairs. "Just wait for me to get changed!"

The others stared at me. I looked away from their stares and ran away to the third floor. I walked past Yukari's room and Yukari came out of the room, neatly changed.

I was trying hard to clamp my mouth shut.

It was not because of Yukari's clothes.

It was because Minato was following Yukari out of her room.

Yukari, of course, didn't know anything, but I glared at Minato. He shrugged. Perverted ghost.

"Oh, why didn't you wait downstairs?" Yukari asked. "I'm not going to be that long, you know!"

"I forgot something." I said shortly. "I'll meet you later." I said, going in my room and I waited for a few minutes. I then went out and followed Yukari to the florist.

"Hey, I'm thinking of decorating my room with gerberas, which color do you think I should get?" Yukari asked me, pointing to a bunch of flowers.

I scanned her clothes. "Pink. They look cute!"

"You're right, I'll get those!" Yukari called out to the cashier. But she then sighed. "But then, I think gerberas are a little plain, maybe I should get another type of flowers…"

"Well, if you think so." I said, "I never saw your room, but I guess it's the same as mine, right?"

"Yup! No changes!" Yukari exclaimed.

"_It has more pink than your room." _So him peeking on Yukari might be useful.

"But then won't your flowers blend with the room and become unnoticeable?" I pointed out. "Then it'll look as if there's no flowers at all!"

"…You have a good point there, Minako-chan." Yukari sighed, but then giggled. "But then, I just love pink!"

I acted out a natural-looking giggle. I didn't find it amusing, but Yukari does, so why not?

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Lovers Arcana.

The Lovers Arcana is now level 3.

So Minato was right. I have to take a mental note of this. I'm guessing there's more than two Social Links, I need to find them, and fast before the year ends.

…

Apparently, having a conversation with Yukari took longer than I thought. Once I got back to the dorm, it was already evening. Too fast. Which reminds me, I need to catch up on Tartarus, I think I'm behind by some floors.

…

Nothing happened much in Tartarus, except for Theo informing me of the Persona Compendium and the massacre of the Shadows. We have entered the new block called Arqa, for some reason, but have not finished it. You can't expect us to finish it in one day!

I haven't showed off or told anyone else that I can change Personas. I know that only I can do it in S.E.E.S, seeing as Junpei hasn't showed off yet, but I don't really need to change Personas yet. Orpheus is getting quite tired, but I don't think I need to call out Surt or other Personas that I have encountered. I'll try it out later.

…

"Minako…"

"Please! Brother! Don't!"

He laughed. "They're right, Minako… You're the walking devil. Go back to hell!" he cursed at me in English.

"Brother Jack… Don't believe them!"

He laughed even more, grabbing the hammer. "You're hell, Minako. Father and mother should have never taken you in!" he laughed again. "Look what it did to us!"

"Brother Jack…"

"Die, Minako."

I gripped my knife. "I'm sorry, brother Jack."

…

I woke up with a start in cold sweat while shivering. "Brother Jack…"

"_Minako."_

I turned around to see Minato looking worried. I smiled at him, trying to look reassuring. "It was a nightmare."

He walked towards me and sat on the edge of the bed. _"Brother Jack's family was the first family that adopted you, right?"_

I nodded. "They were kind…they took me in when nobody else wanted me." I laughed a dry laugh. "Look what I did to them!"

Minato couldn't do anything other than looking at me with a straight face.

"Brother Jack was only ten! He should have never been like that! He was kind and caring!" I cried out. "Mother and father…they didn't know what was coming…"

"…"

"And look what I did to them! It was all my fault! I…brother Jack…" I muttered. "And yet, mother and father were still willing to take me in…I shouldn't have accepted…they…"

"…"

"I don't want to involve S.E.E.S in this any more." I said, burying my face in my hands. "They'll end up like brother Jack…"

"_They will want to involve themselves, I'm sure. They already are, they just don't know it yet."_

"That's reassuring."

"_But they'll be able to support you."_

"…"

"_If they don't, then at least I will."_

"…Thanks, Minato."

"…_I'm your twin brother. Remember that."_

"…Thank you. …I'm going back to sleep."

"_Goodnight."_

…

"The Shadow you killed with the TNT was intense, huh?" Junpei said as I reached the school gates. "I could have killed it! But man, you got it before I- …Never mind."

I still glared at him. "Just remember that you still owe me."

"…Well at least you saved the city!" Junpei cried out. "Isn't that reward already?"

"From the city, yeah." I said. "But not from you."

"Sly…" Junpei muttered. "Fine! I'll treat you to Hagakure later!"

Hagakure? Oh, that ramen shop. I heard they got a new special. I nodded, curious of how it tastes.

"'Kay then, that's settled!" Junpei shouted in victory. In what victory, I do not know. "Oh hey there, Yuka-tan!"

Yukari glared at him with annoyance. "What, Stupei?"

Ooh, harsh.

Junpei sighed. "What's with you, Yuka-tan? Man, today's a lovely day, but you're totally ruining it!"

Yukari ignored him and turned to me. "Oh hey! Guess what! During Akihiko-senpai's last checkup, we were asked by senpai to bring him the class list for 2-E!"

"Actually, he only asked me…" Junpei muttered.

Yukari ignored him again and continued. "It seems that someone from 2-E called Fuuka Yamagishi might have the 'potential'! But we're not sure yet, though."

Oh? So another person might be joining S.E.E.S. I saw the person called Fuuka a couple of times in school, but she seemed so fragile, I wonder if she can keep up with S.E.E.S. I'm worried if she does join.

"And we met this creepy dude with a beanie!" Junpei added. "Akihiko-senpai said that he was a friend from school that knew a little about the Apathy Syndrome."

That person called Shinji I met a while ago? A friend from school that knows about Apathy Syndrome? Sounds too coincidental, I need to dig in more about this.

"Oh! Bell's ringing! Better hurry!" Yukari said as the bell rang.

We rushed into class. Thankfully, the teacher was not there yet. We sat down and got through the boring class.

…

Right after exams, we were finished with Arqa. It was quite the trouble to get past the guardians, though I relied on physical attacks and my teammate's Persona, so all was well in keeping my secret. Rampage Drive wasn't kidding when they said that the other guardians were not going to hold back on me. In the next block, I will need to change my Personas, I can't keep this up anymore.

I went to the shrine the next day. It has been a long time since I had prayed, so I figured that this would be a good time.

And after I prayed, I saw a little girl playing by herself. She seemed a little sad, so I paid her a little visit.

"Hello there!" I said, approaching the little girl.

"Oh hello…my mother told me not to speak with strangers…" the little girl muttered. At least she was brought up right.

"Oh! My name's Minako. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Maiko." the little girl said back. "I'm hungry! Do you have something for me to eat?"

I should have known that she'd whined. I searched my pockets and realized that I have that weird takoyaki I bought along the way from the strip mall. I was kind of hungry as well, so I shared it with Maiko, her eating most of it.

"Thanks!" the little girl said cheerfully. "But now, I'm thirsty. Do you have something for me to drink?"

Maiko's quite whiny. But it can't be helped, I suppose. I took out a drink that I have bought from the dorm called Mad Bull. I wonder if she's interested in this. "Here you go. Do you like this?"

Maiko inspected the can and brightened up. "Yeah! This is my favorite drink! Thank you!" and she gulped down the drink.

"Now, what are you doing here alone?" I asked, worried for the little girl. "You're not supposed to be out here alone. Where are your parents?"

Maiko looked at the ground. "My parents are fighting. I don't usually come here today, but I guess today's special." she sighed. "I don't like it when my parents fight, I wish they never fight. I wish it's going to be like the old times!"

"We wish a lot of things, but unfortunately, some don't come true." I told her. "But maybe, this one wish might come true."

"Wow! How do you know that?" Maiko asked me in awe.

"My relative told me that." I said shortly. "There might be some things that you can do to help your parents not to fight, or there might be none. But I guess, you have to give them time."

"Yeah! You're right!" Maiko giggled. "Thank you, onee-chan!"

Sister…I wonder how long anyone has called me that…

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hanged Man Arcana.

Oh, another Social Link. Hanged Man this time, I wonder what Personas it can create.

"See you next time, onee-chan!" Maiko called out as she ran away from the shrine.

Well, at least I know that I'm going to be visiting Maiko next time.

…

Today was kind of rough. I think I just saw a bullying in process. Some girls were laughing about bullying someone. Shameless. But one girl kept zoning out, there's something wrong with this group, but I don't really intend to find out what, I just want to know who the victim was. Hopefully, she would be okay.

…

I knew I was wrong the next day.

I overheard the gossipers (Junpei told me as well, but I was half-listening to him), talking about a girl passing out. It might be either the victim or the girl who was zoning out. I need to find out more about this.

I headed to the branch right after school. I needed some answers, and I hope that I could get it then. I needed to find out about the guy called Shinji and the girl.

"Oh, Yaku!" I greeted. "Welcome back! So does it still hurt?"

"Hey!" Yaku greeted back. "Doesn't really hurt as much, but still. Though the doctors can't get rid of the scars."

"Not a surprise, seeing how deep those wounds are." I pointed out. "At least be grateful that you're not dead."

"I don't think they wanted me dead." Yaku said. "Probably just a warning. I have to be more careful next time."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Oh yeah, can you search up for a guy called Shinji in the database of Gekkoukan High?"

"Do you have the full name?"

"Nope."

He sighed. "Fine. I'll try."

"Thanks." I nodded. "Hey, where's Hiro?"

"Off." Yaku responded, searching through the computer. "Five days. He'll come back on the first day of the next month.'

"…" I stared at Yaku. "I'm getting worried, seeing as how you've been targeted."

"Eh, don't worry, they're better than me." Yaku replied in English. "I'm sure they're fine."

I raised an eyebrow in worry. "Sure, but why English?" I responded back in English.

Yaku picked up his deadly boomerang and threw it at the window without even looking behind him. A slice was heard and a short yelp came. "That."

I sighed. "Thirty-one. They don't give up, after all. Let's talk in English for a while then."

"Fair enough." Yaku said, sipping his tea. "So I heard that you sent Rekka off. Did you check the newspapers yet?" he handed me the day's paper.

"I see that the Midnight Assailant reached the day's headlines. I'm sure the police is trying to track him down." I said, reading the paper. "He's bombed an office? Show-off."

"Well, you did tell him to take up your media's name." Yaku pointed out. "It's no surprise that sooner or later, he'll do it anyways. He has to chase them away from hiding. I bet he knows where the next attack is, he'll tell us later."

"Yeah." I said, checking my watch. "I need to go now. It's evening. Be careful, Yaku."

"You too."

…

Junpei's rambling some nonsense about a ghost story. It might have been interesting, if he was not the one that had told it. But it seems that Yukari is still pissed-off though, I can understand why. I was dragged in to investigate the matter, I think Yukari might be good on her own, so I didn't really bother.

…

"So, what did you two found?" Yukari asked me.

"There were three victims and they hung out a lot together behind the station." I answered. I didn't research. All you need to do was to hear the gossips and take out the unrealistic facts. That was it.

"Correct!" Yukari exclaimed. "So that's why we're going to have some field research!"

"Behind Port Island Station is bad stuff, Yukari!" Junpei exclaimed. "You can't go there! I've heard some nasty rumors about that place!"

"That's why we're going together!" Yukari said. Then she turned to me. "You're coming, right?"

Field research? Alone, I can. But with Yukari and Junpei? No way in hell. But Yukari will probably go even if I don't, and she might get raped, so I nodded. Junpei has no other choice than to go with us anyway.

…

I remembered to put on my good-luck shoes and 'backup', in case _they_ come. I'm not worried about the gangsters, those guys are easy. But just in case, I made Minato go on look-out to find someone reliable in case anything happens.

"Look!" a gangster announced. "Some crap from Gekko High's coming!"

"The hell?" the gangster's friend said. "Look, Goatee, beat it. This isn't your place. Go back to your wormhole."

"G-Goatee?" Junpei asked, both curious and frightened. "Oh, you mean me."

"We don't need your permission to be here!" Yukari shouted. "Come on! Don't get intimidated by these scum!"

Yukari's getting herself a death sentence. Whether she likes it or not.

"What the-hey! Let's get them! Who cares where they're from!" the gangster yelled to his friends.

"Let's take some pictures of her that will make her daddy cry!" the gangster's girlfriend called out. "We'll make her wish that she was never born!"

"These guys are the worse!" Yukari muttered.

"Whoa, I feel sorry for you, Goatee." the gangster said as he approached Junpei. "This bitch is the worst!" he punched Junpei and Junpei yelped in pain.

"Junpei!" Yukari said in surprise.

You know, this is all your fault Yukari.

"We'll start with that chick over there!" the gangster said, pointing at me.

You wish.

The gangster approached me, but gave himself some distance from him and me. "What do you say, little girl? You want to come with us?"

I walked towards him, with Yukari and Junpei shouting "No!"

My good-luck shoes are Heelys, shoes with a wheel on the heels. They're good in speed, so I can always run away from impossible situations.

And they make good deadly weapons as well.

I kicked the gangster across the face, making sure to wheel the shoe's way across the face. His nose broke and he fell down. At least I didn't turn his eyeballs inside out!

I crouched in front of him and took off my contact lenses. "Hey. Ever heard of P.U.M.A?" I hissed, my red eyes piercing into his eyes.

The gangster yelped and scrambled to his feet. "W-We're going! We're leaving!"

All the gangsters at the place ran away, leaving me with Yukari and Junpei. I stood up and smiled at the two.

I knew _they_ were going to come. I didn't know when. There were too many footsteps. _They're _coming.

"_There's the guy called Shinji outside the place. He seems reliable enough."_

"Thanks Minato." I whispered.

"Let's go, Minako!" Yukari sighed. "We didn't find out anything here."

"Yukari, Junpei." I said to them. "On three, you two run away. There's going to be the person you two met at the hospital, his name is Shinji-senpai. Tell him to get Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai."

"What are you talking about, Minako?" Yukari asked, Junpei was already able to stand up normally, so I'm not that worried about them.

"One…Two…" I counted. "Four…"

I can feel the curious glares from every direction. Now! "Three!" I shouted at the two. They were confused, but they walked to the entrance.

Knives. Dodge and kick face. I took the knife and stabbed him in the heart. "GO!" I shouted at the two. "I'll take care of them!"

The two shakily nodded, but ran out anyway. I threw away the knife and took out my own knives that I had hidden between my sleeves. The second came at me. Throw knife. Two dead. Stab person behind me. Three. I heard more footsteps. Backup, _they're _coming.

"Little Minako!"

Good, I have my own backup.

"Here!" Yaku handed me the naginata and the replica. Slice two in front of me. "Hiro and Rekka are coming! Just wait! The leader's here as well!"

Yaku threw his deadly boomerang and it sliced through a person and came back. He threw it again and it sliced through again.

The massacre begun while waiting for Hiro and Rekka. Both me and Yaku had finished ten people each. A total of twenty. Just how many are there?

"Well, well, well. I see the leader has made her appearance." I looked up to find a man, waiting to fight. "And hello, dear Yaku. I hope you haven't forgotten our last meeting?"

"You…" Yaku spat out in English. He threw a boomerang to the man's head. The man dodged and approached him. Yaku received his boomerang and defended himself. He fought the man's sword, but seemed to be struggling.

"Why do you fight when you have the option to run away?" the man hissed. He side-stepped, facing Yaku's back and stabbed him. "You're pride holds you back, even if you don't show it. …'Near', we warned, and we wrote it in English, and yet you still haven't learned your lesson."

I was about to look at Yaku's way, but focused at the underling trying to kill me.

"A…venge me…" Yaku muttered out.

The underling got distracted and looked at Yaku's way. I decided to take my chance and sliced the underling. Yaku's red eyes shot up in the black, night sky.

"A…venge… me…" Yaku whispered. "Per…so…na…"

_CRACK_

"HWAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! MONSTEEEEEER!"

"Goodbye, Yaku. Until we meet again."

Once I heard the sound of shredding flesh had stopped, I looked at the puddle of blood that has once been the leader. The puddle of blood was filled with shredded flesh, and the only parts untouched were the eyes of the leader. I looked beside it to find Yaku lying down, dead, with his eyes open. I closed his eyes and stood up, only to find there were more of _them_ than I have expected, looking in terror.

"Little Minako! We're finally here!" Hiro called out. He looked at the puddle of blood and Yaku. "So, Yaku's done it. What are you going to do with _them_?"

"You know our rules, Hiro." I said. "Kill anyone that has seen. Don't let anyone get away."

"I thought you were going to be more caring towards them." Rekka said.

"I'm the leader. I'm supposed to be crueler." I said, readying the replica that Yaku had given me. I aimed the replica at my head and pulled the trigger. "Surt! Ragnarok!" the flames incinerated two men. _They_ now looked scared. Finally.

"That's our leader!" Hiro smirked, throwing a special red dart at a person. "Seiryu! Mazionga!" Glass appeared from the head of the dart and the dart turned into the dragon, Seiryu and struck the ambushers dead with thunder.

Rekka flicked on his red lighter. "Suzaku! Agidyne!" Glass appeared from the tip of the flame and Suzaku appeared behind him, scorching the enemies.

"I see everyone's getting better!" I said. "Let's get to work then!" I made Surt incinerate more people.

"So how many already?" Hiro asked as he struck more people down.

"About thirty to forty." I shouted back.

"Have you even thought about how to hide these many bodies?"

"Nah. I thought you had a plan."

"You're our leader!"

"Yeah, but you're my subordinate!"

"Quiet, you two." Rekka growled as Suzaku breathed fire on more people. "I'll ask the others to come and help out. I'll find a way. Just focus on killing for now."

I sliced a man through. "That's what I'm doing! So how many more?"

"Ten, unless there's any more backup."

"Nah, I think they're finished." I said as I sliced the last person. "No more."

We heard the shuffling of feet. We turned around to face them. Mitsuru and Akihiko. We lowered our weapons and sent away our Personas.

"Arisato…Hiro…" Mitsuru muttered.

"_You can't hide it anymore, Minako."_

Do you think I don't know that already?

"Let's go back to the dorm, Mitsuru-senpai, Akihiko-senpai. Hiro, Rekka, come as well." I told them, leading the way. "I'll explain everything with everyone."

**DLWolf: Okay! Minako will explain why my OCs have Personas in the next chapter! Thank you for all the favorites, alerts and reviews! **

**Junpei: Woah, a ruthless Minako!**

**DLWolf: Yeah, from a ruthless author if you don't get back in place!**

**Junpei: You can't make me!**

**DLWolf: If you do the disclaimers and go back in place, then I promise that I won't make you dead in the next chapter!**

**Junpei: …Ah, fine! Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and any of the characters in it. Except for the OCs.**

**DLWolf: Eh, I can't make you die anyway, you're too much of a Stupei to do that.**

**Junpei: …**

**DLWolf: Okay, go, shoo.**

**Junpei: …**

**DLWolf: Going along… ledah13, no they are not poor saps, you'll understand why later, and I don't think they're supposed to be invulnerable in the coffins, it's impossible if you're caught in a bomb attack and not die, so I don't think so. Soulswallows, well the OC's dying can't be helped, it's the storyline, and there will be more exposure in the next chapter, it may as well be a sequel. Fan of fanfics21, yes I will make it humorous and unbelievable, it has to be anyway, it's quite impossible for Hiro to meet Mitsuru in the first place.**

**Junpei: …**

**DLWolf: You're still here? Go!**

**Junpei: … *Runs away***

**DLWolf: Okay. Please keep on reviewing, no insults please! Thanks! See you later, readers!**


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